Tuesday, December 28, 2021
Good for water table
Record snowfalls give hope to California
In summer California suffers from a catastrophic drought, in many places water consumption is rationed because the storage tanks are empty. Now there is some hope of relaxation in the next year, because it is snowing a lot unexpectedly. However, the onset of winter is currently causing a few problems.
A winter storm with heavy snowfall caused power outages and traffic chaos in the western United States. According to the authorities, one meter of fresh snow fell within 24 hours in California’s Sierra Nevada, bringing the total amount of snow in December to a record 4.80 meters.
For the state, which is suffering from the effects of a drought that has lasted for years, the heavy snowfalls are a glimmer of hope because they could replenish the groundwater reserves. “We certainly weren’t expecting a wet winter,” said Andrea Schwartz, a scientist from the Central Sierra Nevada Snow Laboratory at Berkeley University. The abundant snowfall was “a pleasant surprise”. It is too early to declare the drought over, “but it looks as if the west of the USA is getting help with it”.
According to the utility company Pacific Gas and Electric, the storm toppled electricity pylons, and electricity has been restored to almost 50,000 households since Christmas Day. At Seattle Airport in northwest Washington State, the snowfall led to delays and planes had to be de-iced.