Snowfall values are manually measured at 8am and updated by 9am on days with snowfall. Daily precipitation is recorded at midnight.

Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) is the amount of water that can be obtained from the snowpack.



Central Sierra Nevada Snowfall Amounts Ending Today at 5 AM PDT

Data used on this page is continually updated from the National Weather Service's National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center (NOHRSC). Loading may take a few moments as a result.

24-Hour Snowfall

48-Hour Snowfall


72-Hour Snowfall

Season Total Snowfall


Data Citation: National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center. 2004. Snow Data Assimilation System (SNODAS) data products at NSIDC. Boulder, CO: National Snow and Ice Data Center. Digital media.


NOTE: Measurements from 1946 to present are used for direct comparison because these have all been made on the same site (the Snow Lab) using the same methodologies. Those before 1946 are omitted from direct comparison and are, instead, used for overall trend analysis because those were measured by the railroad on a different nearby site using slightly different methodologies.

Limited data exists for the 2019-2020 winter (Water Year 2020). SNOTEL data has been used for maximum snowpack depth and no data exists on total snowfall. We are working to rectify this data shortage as soon as possible.

Recent News Including the Lab:

We are regularly featured in news stories about snow, storm systems, meteorology, climatology, and California's water resources. For the most recent news featuring the lab, please visit:

Recent Snow Lab News on Google

Featured Articles About the Lab:

SFGATE: This obscure laboratory holds the answers to California’s water future. But hardly anyone knows it exists.

At the top of Donner Summit, an old cabin rests in a thicket of tall trees. The structure is three stories tall, including the basement. Still, in the heaviest of winters, the snow drifts are deep enough to bury the front door, so the only way into the building is through a window on the top floor...

Moonshine Ink: Drawing Parallels

For the first time in its 73-year existence, UC Berkeley’s Central Sierra Snow Lab in December 2019 was without a single full-time employee. The previous manager had retired, Berkeley was considering eliminating its funding, and the Covid-19 pandemic was preventing the hire of a new manager. By January 2021, the hard work of the lab’s director, professor Rob Rhew, had saved the lab and I was appointed as the new manager to lead it into the future. There was, however, a catch that complicated my transition to the new lead of the lab’s daily operations: I was living in Australia...

Moonshine Ink: The Saga of the Snow Lab's Data

How does this winter’s snowfall compare to last year, or the last decade, or even the last century? While early November in 2020 brought higher-than-normal snowfall to Donner Summit, the cumulative amount of winter snow as of Jan. 3, 2021 is roughly equal to below the 40-year median...

Tahoetopia.com: Central Sierra Snow Laboratory

"The rest of the world looks to California to see how it manages its water resources," says snow scientist, Randall Osterhuber. "We've even had scientists from China visit our snow lab to study flood forecasting and stream gauging."

Donner Summit Historical Society: History of Central Sierra Snow Laboratory at Soda Springs, California

The Sierra Nevada snowpack is California’s most valuable natural resource, and not because of the popularity of winter sports. When all that frozen precipitation melts it supplies more than half of the Golden State’s total water supply. The first attempts to study this vital resource got underway right here in the Lake TahoeDonner Summit region...

About Our Research

Research Programs


Our research focuses on understanding the hydrology and meteorology/climatology of physical snowpack processes. We focus on maintaining the manual snowpack measurements that have been occurring at the lab for seven decades and at Donner Summit for 150 years with a particular focus on snowfall and precipitation trends during that time. The lab also takes an active role in the development of new meteorology and hydrology instrumentation and measurement techniques. We are continually testing new technologies and methods for determining snowpack Snow Water Equivalent (SWE), snowfall and precipitation rates with fluid-filled and fluid-less precipitation gauges, and internal snowpack thermodynamic properties.

Academics/Teaching

The UC Berkeley CSSL affords undergraduate and graduate students the unique opportunity to examine and apply principles of meteorological and hydrological processes to conditions in the field. The lab regularly hosts course field trips and student research with a wide range of focuses.

As part of the University of California, the lab strives to stay on the cutting edge of hydrometeorological measurements, instrument design, and data analysis techniques. We are firmly committed to collaborative interdisciplinary research accross the university and are always excited to engage in new research.


Our Collaborative Partners


The lab conducts research with a wide range of collaborative partners and we are always excited to partner with new organizations. We work with organizations from all sectors, including federal and state governments, universities, and private businesses. Some of our past and current collaborators are:

  • Alpine Meadows Ski Area
  • Auburn Ski Club
  • CA Air Resources Board
  • CA Department of Water Resources
  • CalTrans
  • Dartmouth College
  • Desert Research Institute (DRI)
  • Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
  • NOAA
  • National Weather Service
  • PG & E
  • Sandia National Laboratories
  • Scripps Institution of Oceanography
  • Sierra Avalanche Center
  • Sierra College
  • Sierra Nevada College
  • Squaw Valley Ski Area
  • Sugar Bowl Ski Area
  • UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara
  • Union Pacific
  • University of Nevada
  • University of Washington
  • US Bureau of Reclamation
  • US Forest Service
  • US Geological Survey
  • USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service

Contact Us

Lead Scientist and Manager

Name: Dr. Andrew J Schwartz

Email: ASchwartz (at) berkeley.edu

Mailing Address

P.O. Box 810

Soda Springs, CA 95728

Station Director

Name: Dr. Neil Tsutsui

Email: ntsutsui (at) berkeley.edu

Links to available lab-published data:

Snowpack, precipitation, and temperature measurements at the Central Sierra Snow Laboratory for water years 1971 to 2019

The snowpack of the Sierra Nevada Mountains is an indispensable freshwater resource for large portions of western North America. The Central Sierra Snow Laboratory (CSSL) has had an intigral role in the measurement of snowfall and snowpack properties within the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and has worked to develop a physical understanding of the processes that govern snow since 1946. This dataset contains measurements of temperature, precipiation quantity, snowfall, and snowpack characteristics including 24-hour snowfall, snowpack depth, and snow water equivalent for each water year (October 1 to September 30) from 1971 to 2019 at CSSL. Measurements were made at the same location at CSSL for the entirety of the 48 year measurement period to ensure continuity of record with minimal effects from difference in measurement location.