Snow cover relations in the Kings River Basin, California

Snow cover of the Kings River basin in the southern Sierra Nevada (California) decreases each spring at the rate of about 18 mi2/day; since the hypsometric (‘area-elevation’) relation for the basin is almost linear from 7000 to 11,000 ft (1000 to 200 mi2), the ‘equivalent snowline’ rises about 70 ft/day each spring, regardless of the actual amount of snow. Water content of the snowcourses in the basin increases 4 to 5 inches per thousand feet up to at least the 9000-ft level. The courses, however, apparently contain snow more representative of average conditions some 2600 ft higher than their actual elevations These relations have been deduced from estimates of the snow-covered area of the basin made each spring; from readings of the 18 snowcourses in the basin, read one or more times each spring; and from the daily weather observations at Grant Grove.