By Gabriel Greschler
Temperatures in parts of the Bay Area (click here) could reach the low 90s toward the end of the coming week, according to the National Weather Service.
The high pressure system that is currently heading east over the Pacific Ocean will reach the region on Wednesday, with the highest temperatures expected Thursday and then tapering off into the weekend. Parts of the East Bay, including Livermore and Concord, as well as the Santa Clara Valley, will experience the highest temperatures that could reach 94 degrees, NWS meteorologist Brooke Bingaman said.
Areas along the coast and the Bay will get slightly less hot, with downtown San Francisco and Oakland expecting temperatures in the mid to low 80s on Thursday.
While the heat may not break any records, Bingaman called the event an “anomaly,” with temperatures in the region reaching 15 to 25 degrees higher than what is considered normal for this time of year.....
By Paul Rogers
Stressed by high temperatures (click here) and a record run of dry weather over the last three months, the Sierra Nevada snowpack, the source of 30% of the state’s water supply, has hit one of its lowest levels for the end of winter in generations.
With state water officials scheduled to conduct a snow survey Friday near Sierra-at-Tahoe ski resort, automatic sensors spread across the vast mountain range showed snow levels were just 39% of normal on Wednesday. The measurements were the latest evidence that California’s three-year drought is growing more severe.
From a water-supply standpoint, the April 1 Sierra snow reading is traditionally considered the most important of the year. Very little snow falls after April 1, so water planners at cities, farms and wildlife agencies are able to assess how much is available for the summer ahead.
By comparison, on April 1 last year, the snowpack was 62% of normal. Going back to 1950, only five times has there been less snow on April 1 than this year, all of them during major droughts — in 2015 (5% of normal), 2014 (25%), 1988 (29%), 1977 (25%) and 1976 (37%)....
