Sierra Snowpack and Stream Flow Data / Maps

[gary c.]

FWIW, just shoveled a foot of heavy snow off my jeep.
7,900 elevation - Mammoth Lakes

Excellent!!! Every little bit helps.

[rlown]

FWIW, just shoveled a foot of heavy snow off my jeep.
7,900 elevation - Mammoth Lakes

I guess if we had 11' on your Jeep, I'd be more impressed. A foot equals an inch of water on average, Sierra? except for the extreme wet stuff.

Let's hope the storm track doesn't shut down again.

[ERIC]

Good sidebar (especially the snow part since this year is so depressing), but let's try to stay on topic here fellas.

This thread lists some of the available online resources for obtaining Sierra Nevada snow pack, river and stream flow data/info:

[Tahoe to Whitney]

Hey Eric,

I built this High Sierra Weather page, which brings together some of your resources, like the Sierra Snow Analysis, here:

http://tahoetowhitney.org/content/fall- ... reports#8a

With Precip/Snow Forecast Models, here:

http://tahoetowhitney.org/content/fall- ... reports#7d

With a range of Sat views, here:

http://tahoetowhitney.org/content/fall- ... eports#6a1

Of course, a selection of Radars, here:

http://tahoetowhitney.org/content/fall- ... -reports#7

Can't leave out the Surface Maps, here:

http://tahoetowhitney.org/content/fall- ... -reports#8

Last but not least are the Real Time Reporting Stations, here:

http://tahoetowhitney.org/content/fall- ... -reports#4

My favorites are the Mesowest N & S, these:

http://tahoetowhitney.org/content/fall- ... reports#4c

These resources are tailored for the four-season High Sierra backpacker, so include as wide a range of relevant resources as I have been able to put together.
There is also ENSO data, here:

http://tahoetowhitney.org/content/fall- ... ts#el-nino


Drought/Rivers/Reservoirs, here:

http://tahoetowhitney.org/content/fall- ... eports#4c2

Scroll up from the above Drought/Rivers/Reservoirs resources to find the Fire and Smoke resources.

There's even more!

Caltrans Road Info:

http://tahoetowhitney.org/content/fall- ... reports#10

I've also got lightening, heat, and a very interesting overnight freezing probability animation, along with a very interesting almost-real time animation of active fronts, pressures, and precip. Oh, and point and zone forecasts for the Sierra between Tahoe and Whitney.

Check it out. It's an informative page. I try to get a many views as possible looking at this great kalidascope/puzzle/great piece of moving art that is our atmosphere. Or it can crush me!

Ha-ha-
Happy Trails!

Alex

[S. Fontinalis]

I find this one useful:

http://www.dreamflows.com/flows.php?zon ... m&mark=All

[tightline]

Anybody know of a way or link to research historical snowpack data for the Sierras going back 5-6 years or so?

[wildhiker]

The California Department of Water Resources collects and makes available all kinds of environmental data, including snow course (manual) and snow sensor (automated) data on the California Data Exchange Center (CDEC) website. They archive all the data and you can request lists or plots of arbitrary time periods. Each station has a code ID that you use to lookup the data. You can start with the statewide interactive station map at http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecstation2/ If you zoom in, you will eventually see each individual station plotted as a blue circle on the map. Hovering your mouse over a circle shows the station name and type of data collected. For example, I saw a blue dot by Fallen Leaf Lake next to Lake Tahoe. Hovering my mouse over it showed the station name as "Fallen Leaf Lake" and the data types collected as rain, snow, and temperature. Once you have the station name, you can enter it in the search field on the top right side, or find it in the drop down menu below that field, and then you will get a data summary box on the map for that station. Click on the sensor type in that summary to see the data. I clicked on "Snow DP', for example, to get snow depth for Fallen Leaf Lake. This shows you a plot of the last 30 days of data. At the bottom of the plot, there are links to other pages where you can actually download the data points, and below that, a form you can fill in to make a custom plot for an arbitrary time period, such as the last 90 days, or the 90 days ending on June 1, 2017, for example.

CDEC also has various snow pack summary data available on their main snow page at http://cdec.water.ca.gov/snow/current/snow/

-Phil

[paul]

If you are looking for a quick, overall view for the whole range, rather than local detail, the easiest thing from the state is here:
http://cdec.water.ca.gov/snowapp/swcchart.action
This is updated roughly every working day - no weekends or holidays - and gives a quick visual. The default display is the biggest year, the lowest year, and the current year. At the top you can select from a list of years to include in the graph.

[rightstar76]

The link Paul added in the above post is an excellent way to compare multiple years of snow water equivalent. In this post, I'm adding the link to the daily snapshot of the snow water equivalent for the Sierra Nevada (also updated each working day):

http://cdec.water.ca.gov/snowapp/sweq.action

[rightstar76]

Here's another tool to see weather history. I used the search function to look up weather stations in the High Sierra. I then did a daily almanac on several.

http://scacis.rcc-acis.org/

Have fun!