Snowpack, precipitation, and temperature measurements at the Central Sierra Snow Laboratory for water years 1971 to 2025

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 integral 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, precipitation 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 2025 at CSSL except for Water Year 2020. Measurements were made at the same location at CSSL for the entirety of the 53-year measurement period to ensure continuity of record with minimal effects from differences in measurement location.
, Data on snowpack depth and snow water equivalent (SWE) were collected using a federal sampler and/or a large snow stake at 9:00 Pacific Standard Time (PST) each day. New snowfall measurements used a snow board and ruler at 8:00 and 16:00 PST on days when snowfall occurred and were then totaled for daily new snow quantity., Snowfall amounts < 0.5 cm when measured with the snow board and ruler were labelled as \"Trace\" or \"T\" accumulations. Periods with no measurement and/or missing values are recorded as \"--\". References to \"patchy\", \"patches\", \"small patches\", or \"large patches\" are in reference to snow cover on the site. 
Water Years 1971 through 2019 include SWE measurements from a federal sampler on the site. Beginning in Water Year 2021, SWE values that are used are obtained from the USDA NRCS SNOTEL site at the lab. , # Snowpack, precipitation, and temperature measurements at the Central Sierra Snow Laboratory for water years 1971 to 2025

Dataset DOI: [10.6078/D1941T](10.6078/D1941T)

## Description of the data and file structure

Water Years 1971 through 2019 include data on snow depth and SWE measurements that were collected using a federal sampler and/or a large snow stake at 9:00 Pacific Standard Time (PST) each day. New snowfall measurements used a snow board and ruler at 8:00 and 16:00 Pacific Standard Time on days when snowfall occurred and were then totaled for daily new snow quantity.

Beginning in Water Year 2021, SWE values were obtained from the USDA NRCS SNOTEL site at the lab at 00:00 local time and snow depth measurements were obtained from a snow depth pole permanently installed at the site measurement location at 8am PST. New snowfall measurements used a snow board and ruler at 8:00 and 16:00 Pacific Standard Time on days when snowfall occurred and were then totaled for daily new sn...,