After two winters of extremely low precipitation, California is suffering through a severe drought, one exacerbated by unusually warm weather. The heat influences the drought in part by enhancing evaporation, ensuring that less of the limited precipitation stays in the ground. But it also changes the dynamics of how the precipitation falls. That's because most of the precipitation comes in winter, and temperatures control whether it falls as rain or snow.
Now, researchers have looked into the history of California's snowpack and found that it's showing some exceptional behavior as well. It may be the least snow the region has seen in 500 years.
The contrast in snowpack between recent winters and the past is dramatic, as shown in the image above. Part of the problem is that there's simply less precipitation to build the snowpack up. But warm winter temperatures contribute as well. In California, whether precipitation falls as snow or rain varies with altitude; at higher altitudes, colder conditions prevail and snow is more likely.
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