Lakewatch
Dry winter catches up to average
by Greg Reis
In March 1 snow water-content in the Mono Basin was 116% of average to date, and 99% of average for April 1, the typical date of maximum accumulation. Storms continued to pile snow in the Sierra after March 1, so it probably will be another above-average runoff year for Mono Lake. This is the fifth wetter-than-average year out of the last six years, with last year coming in just below average. For the northern Sierra, it is six wet years in a row, an unprecedented string of wet years as far back as records have been kept.
What is even more amazing is how quickly the snowpack caught up to average in late January and early February. On January 14, it was the driest winter on record, and by February 15 we had caught up to average, thanks to some powerful winter storms.
These storms have also caused the lake to rise slightly, to 6384.4 feet at the beginning of March, however it was still ¼ foot lower than on this date last year. In fact, Mono Lake has been within about ½ foot of its current elevation for the past year and a half, the first time the lake elevation has been this stable for this long since April 1993-January 1995 when it hovered around 6375 feet.
While these wet years help Mono Lake rise, they don’t help reinforce the reality that California is a dry state. We must plan for the dry years, which are quickly forgotten. As it states prominently on the wall of our Information Center in Lee Vining:
And it never failed
that during the dry years the people forgot about the rich years, and during the wet years they lost all memory of the dry years. It was always that way.-East of Eden, John Steinbeck
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