USDA Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin (3/14): Upper Midwest Sees Heavy Snow

According to today's Weather and Crop Bulletin report of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), torrential rain in central California caused a levee break along the Pajaro River, flooding the community of Pajaro in Monterey County. Rain, along with melting of lower-elevation snowpack and dam releases, also led to significant water rises along many waterways in California’s Central Valley.

Meanwhile, the average water equivalency of the high-elevation Sierra Nevada snowpack topped 50 inches, more than twice normal for the season, according to the California Department of Water Resources. Other areas of the West, excluding the southern tier of the region, received widespread, but mostly light, precipitation. Farther east, late-week storminess delivered light to moderately heavy snow across the northern Plains and upper Midwest, with some of the most significant precipitation falling on March 11.