Monitoring network enhancements in the Northern Sierra Nevada to measure precipitation phase

In support of Yuba-Feather Forecast Informed Reservoir Operations, the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes (CW3E) has developed a monitoring network that provides near-real time data from a majority of its stations and collects a variety of hydrometeorological data including precipitation, soil moisture at a variety of depths, vertical profiles of the atmosphere, and stream conditions. A subset of three sites across an elevation gradient in the Yuba River watershed have a disdrometer collocated with the surface meteorology station. Disdrometers provide high-resolution data on the size and velocity of falling hydrometeors, enabling precise classification of precipitation types. The addition of precipitation phase measurements to the broader, existing monitoring network aids our ability to detect rain-snow transitions at the surface during individual precipitation events and across various elevations, and facilitates the validation of freezing level forecasts. This presentation highlights observations from the period of record of CW3E’s monitoring network (2019 - present) and assesses the added value that CW3E-operated disdrometer stations provide to the existing monitoring network.