Storm bolsters Sierra snow

It may not be a Miracle March, but the storm that roared in like a lion in the first few days of the month was certainly miracle-ish.

"If we'd had this storm in January or February, it wouldn't have been as newsworthy as it is now," Water Supply Specialist Dan Greenlee of the Natural Resources Conservation Service said Thursday. "But to have had the long dry spell and then this tremendously wet storm makes a big difference."

Minden received 4 inches of wet snow, containing nearly an inch of moisture by Wednesday morning. Weather Watcher Stan Kapler said the storm dropped 1.5 inches of water on the Douglas County seat.

More importantly, the storm increased the Sierra snowpack by 20 percent, Greenlee said.

"We did some absolutely fantastic improvement," he said. "The Carson, Walker and Truckee basins all benefitted from this tremendous snowfall."

Greenlee said that the storm during the first few days of March took care of the month's total.

"We're at 90 percent now," he said. "This storm got us up to struggling to meet an average water year. We were so far behind, that this improves our water supply outlook substantially from what it was a few days ago. One big storm doesn't a winter make, but it sure helps."