Sierra Nevada snow on March 13, 2016. (Mirko Buholzer/Instagram)
After an optimistically wet start to the rainy season in California, including the highest Sierra Nevada snowpack measured in five years in late January, February trended much drier. The state overall recorded its 14th driest February on record, making some wonder if any additional drought relief would arrive.
Thankfully, the Sierra made big snowpack gains during a 10-day period in early March thanks to a strong jet stream that funneled copious amounts of Pacific moisture into the mountain range.
With the jet stream tapping into a so-called "atmospheric river" at times, snowfall totals were measured in feet across the highest elevations.
Sugar Bowl Ski Resort saw an estimated 10+ feet of snow at its summit (elevation 8,383 feet) March 5 into early March 14. A total of 59 inches was estimated to have fallen March 5-7. This was then followed by an estimate of an additional 66 inches from a second round of heavy snow. That brought the estimated total there over a span of about 10 days to 125 inches.
weather.com
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