Anthony Edwards

The abundance of rainfall the past few years is great for the state's reservoirs, but water supply is actually below "normal" when accounting for the snowpack, too. Great figure from @mdettinger.bsky.social, who I'm sure has more insightful thoughts about the subject than I do.

Bonus shots 🌇⛅️🌈

Bubbly 🌦️

A line graph showing NSF grant awards made through 2/27/26 for fiscal year 2026 compared with grant awards for fiscal years 2021-2025.

NSF Update (Awards through 2/27/26)

Directorates to follow

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Early sign of spring: Cherry blossoms working their magic in S.F. Botanical Garden The combination of February rains and a short heat wave worked perfectly for an early bloom in Golden Gate Park.

Early sign of spring: Cherry blossoms working their magic in S.F. Botanical Garden www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/arti...

Very telling

Much of the snow from February's blizzard is melting away. The liquid stored in the snowpack is still up from pre-storm levels, but that's changing quickly in many places, especially along the Tahoe shoreline.

From @mitchtobin.bsky.social, snowmelt is responsible for 73% of the runoff from the Sierra Nevada (and 74% in the Rockies) and a large proportion of the water for the West's major reservoirs.
mavensnotebook.com/2025/02/03/w...

Aside from the winter recreation and water resource benefits, snowpack is extremely important. Early melt-off could spell bad news for fire season and puts streamflows at low levels that threaten spawning salmon and the whitewater rafting season.

Oct. 1 - March 1 precipitation at SNOTEL sites is above normal (108%). Meanwhile, snow water equivalent (SWE) is well below normal (54%).

The discrepancy between water year to date precipitation and snowpack at California's snow-monitoring (SNOTEL) stations is remarkable. Just 40% of the precipitation remains locked up as snowpack, the second-lowest percentage since 1981, amid above-normal temps and rainy-dominated storms this winter.

Marin County, ski destination USA (would be cool)

Climatological winter ends in the US as one of the warmest on record Cold winter in the East completely offset by warmest winter on record for many in the West

Yes, it's been cold in the East this winter - but the western half of the country has been insanely, record warm. Salt Lake City a great example, as it set warmest avg winter temp record by a larger margin than the difference between #2 and #10. SLC also only had 2.5" of snow. tinyurl.com/yc85dbwr

Summary has been corrected: Oakland and *Half Moon Bay measured their warmest winter day ever as San Jose set a daily record.

San Francisco didn't set any high temperature records, but the city's first 75-degree readings of 2026 came a month earlier than a typical year.

Winter temperature records shattered across Bay Area, California Oakland and San Jose measured their warmest winter day ever as San Jose set a daily record.

Winter temperature records shattered across Bay Area, California, Western U.S.
www.sfchronicle.com/weather/arti...

Not a great day to be skiing in Tahoe. Thunderstorms rolling through the region with mixed precipitation (rain, hail, snow pellets, etc.). Lightning struck near Palisades Tahoe minutes ago. #CAwx

December 2025 through February 2026 was the 2nd warmest winter on record for the Contiguous U.S. according to Prism climate data. The widespread record to near record warmth in the west easily outweighed the cool temps in the east. 🔥🔥🔥

Wow convection over the Diablo range in...*checks calendar*.... February?

Synoptic Data Viewer Synoptic Data viewer of weather station observations

You can access the data and chats here!

viewer.synopticdata.com/map/data/now...

In Washington state, experts say “it would take a record-breaking amount of snow between now and April to get back to ‘normal’ peak snowpack.”

Read more:
ecology.wa.gov/blog/februar...

Feburnuary 😭

Thankfully, serious flooding as not been observed. The fluffy snowpack was able to temporarily hold some of the rain rather before slowly melting, rather than rapidly running thru/off a denser snowpack.

California cities and farms brace for water cutbacks as snow falls short The federal government projected Thursday that just 15% of the water requested by farms in the San Joaquin Valley will be provided this year.

It’s too early to draw conclusions about summer, but water managers are preparing as if snowpack will be well short of normal, despite good reservoir levels

www.sfchronicle.com/climate/arti...

One of the warmest winter days ever measured in Stockton

The mercury did not drop below 61 in S.F. this morning. If that held through midnight, it would tie a February record for high minimum temp. Alas, a cool breeze this evening should drop temps to the 50s.

However, a Feb. 27 record high min temp (58F) was set. SF's warmest winter night since 2015.

This rapid snowmelt comes amid another day of record warmth across the West-Southwest, with the highest February temperatures in modern history observed in some cities. #CAwx

This is the fastest the snowpack has ever shrunk at the UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab (@cssl.bsky.social) in late February. Snow depth was ~8 feet on Feb. 20 and is now <4 feet just eight days later. Liquid equivalent hasn't changed too much, as powdery snow was able to soak up the rain. #CAwx

After a historic 5-day stretch of storms, the Tahoe basin has lost 2-3 feet of snow in the past week. Warm weather, with rain at times, melted away much of the snow. Snow depth in Tahoe City was nearly 4 feet on Feb. 20, but is just 9 inches today, Feb. 28. #CAwx

And for the video fans

While you’re here, check out this cool halo around the moon right now!