This is how Texas was covered in snow and ice 1:46
(CNN) -
After months of extreme drought that caused water shortages and fueled wildfires, heavy snow is falling in the Sierra Nevada, enough to break decades-long records.
As of Tuesday, more than 513 centimeters of snow, more than 5 meters, had fallen so far this month at the Central Sierra Snow Laboratory of the University of California, in Donner Pass east of Sacramento.
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Lab scientists said this month is now the snowiest December on record at this location and the third snowiest month overall.
The highest month was January 2017 when 604 centimeters fell, and it's not likely that enough snow will fall in the next three days to challenge that record.
Records here date back to 1970.
Lab officials said the snow was "deep and difficult to get through," and it took them about 40 minutes to reach the location where the measurements were taken, just 46 meters away from the lab's main door.
NEW DECEMBER RECORD: 193.7 "
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With a 24 hour official #snow total of 38.9 "at the lab, we have smashed the previous record of 179" of snow in December set in 1970!
Snow rates are still heavy and we could even break the 200 "mark today! #CAwx #CAwater pic.twitter.com/x9g6fRuzHQ
- UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab (@UCB_CSSL) December 27, 2021
It's a ton of snow and much needed, but Andrew Schwartz, the lead scientist and station manager for the Sierra Snow Lab, said they are going to need more.
"While this event has been amazing so far, we are really concerned that the next few months will not have as many storms," Schwartz told CNN.
"If we don't get one more centimeter, we are still below what we would expect throughout the winter, which means we can contribute to the drought rather than solve it."
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The high-altitude snowpack serves as a natural reservoir that alleviates drought, stores water during the winter months, and releases it slowly during the spring thaw season.
Snowpack in the Sierra Nevada accounts for 30% of California's freshwater supply in an average year, according to the California Department of Water Resources.
Snow cover in the Sierra was at alarmingly low levels at the end of last winter and the reservoirs, which are replenished with the spring thaw, are still below the historical average.
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The Lake Oroville Reservoir, for example, is currently 37% full, which is low compared to its historic average of 71% during the same time.
The Oroville hydroelectric plant was forced to close this summer, due to its low water level, for the first time since it opened in 1967.
This summer's drought was the most extreme in California's record 126-year record, and July 2021 was the driest month since data collection began in 1895. Across the region, the magnitude of the drought remained at 90% or more since June, with several states completely dry.
Then in October, California and parts of the Pacific Northwest got a taste of the rain they were looking for.
The start of the rainy season brought with it the strong storms that draw moisture from the Pacific Ocean, known as atmospheric rivers.
These winter storms have been crucial in determining whether California will end in drought.
During the previous two winters, only one of those storms brought significant rainfall.
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As climate change accelerates and winter temperatures rise, snowfall is expected to decrease.
Schwartz said he's discovering that what used to fall as snow now falls as rain.
"Ultimately, what is happening right now in terms of climate change with our precipitation here at the summit is that we are actually seeing an increase in precipitation, but the difference is that we are seeing a reduction in snowfall and an increase. from the rains, "said Schwartz.
"So that matches our warming signal; with that warming, we've actually moved away from some of our snowfall."
While snowfall was picturesque in places such as along Broad Street in Nevada City, it was dangerous for many others who were without electricity or stuck in the snow.
Scientists have found that climate change is not only increasing the severity of extreme weather, but is disrupting natural patterns, causing wild shifts between extreme dry and wet.
California has seen this "abrupt change in temperature" in recent years, where atmospheric storms from rivers cause destructive flooding one year and extreme droughts that cause water shortages the next.
Similarly, Schwartz said they see conditions at the summit change from a snowless winter to a blizzard next season.
But he also said that snow is clearly decreasing in the Sierra Nevada.
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"And that will really be what we see and what we see frequently here," he added.
"So as those temperatures rise, we'll see a lot less of the stuff we had yesterday that made us trudge for 40 minutes."
Record snowfall aside, Schwartz said he's already seeing firsthand the grim consequences of the climate crisis in the Sierra Nevada.
"In general, the trends with climate change in the region are kind of scary when it comes to snow, because we are not going to have it for much longer," he said.
"So when we have months like this, I'm very excited."
CaliforniaClimate Change Snowfall