Soil Moisture Content Improving in Sierras
The last several storms in the Sierras have increased the moisture content of soils on the Sierra Crest. The graph below (from the Big Meadow SNOTel site, north of the Mt. Rose Ski resort) shows soil moisture trends for the past 30 days at 2, 8 and 20 inches below the soil surface. A storm several days before the increase in soil moisture on Feb 14th seems to have left enough snow to change soil moisture content. This is good--remember the agricultural definition of drought? It is related to soil moisture availability to support plant growth. Also, the graph appears to show that moisture is sinking into the soil, changing the soil moisture availability at 20 inches below the soil surface as well as at 2 inches below the soil surface. Note the lag between the rise on Feb 14th at 2 inches (green line) and the rise at 20 inches (red line). It looks like it takes about a day for the effects seen at 2 inches to reach 20 inches.
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