Cool spring was ‘best case scenario’ for snowmelt and river levels

Cool spring was ‘best case scenario’ for snowmelt and river levels

Spring was unusually cool in Northern California this year, allowing for a manageable snowmelt period in what could’ve been a far more dangerous situation. Not only has it been a cool spring and early summer, but it has also been unusually cloudy. Direct solar radiation is as much of a player in snowmelt as temperature does, so the cloudy skies paired with below average temperatures has been described as the “best case scenario” by the Department of Water Resources