Forecasting chief Sean de Guzman, second from right, and engineers work the measurement phase of the first media snow survey of the season at Phillips Station in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023.
megadrought that started around the turn of the century and was one of the worst in more than 1,000 years UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain, who wasn't part of the study but specializes in weather in the U.S. West, said, “I would not be surprised if 2023 was the coldest, snowiest winter for the rest of my own lifetime in California.”
California snowpack meets on average just 30% of the state's water needs - the rest is mostly imported or pumped from the ground., a contentious issue in the West, have to keep snow droughts in their memory even if California is flush from last year’s “gift” of a snow deluge, Marshall said. The study also found that as the climate warms, there still will be years with snow deluges but they will be far lighter than now if greenhouse gas emissions aren't rapidly reduced.