8-Station Index as of October 10, 2008California Northern Sierra Precipitation
8-Station Index, October 10, 2008
The average of eight precipitation stations serves as a wetness index
for the Sacramento River hydrologic region.
It provides a representative sample of the region's major watersheds:
the upper Sacramento, Feather, Yuba, and American rivers,
which produce inflow to some of California's largest reservoirs
- the source of much of our water supply. The eight stations are:
Blue Canyon, Brush Creek Ranger Station, Mineral, Mount Shasta City, Pacific House,
Quincy Ranger Station, Shasta Dam, Sierraville Ranger Station.
Seasonal runoff forecasts are based on many more measurements than
this index, including snowpack and prior streamflow.
The seasonal forecasts
are a more accurate measure of water supply.