California’s ‘big melt’ has begun and could bring perilous flooding with it

The snowpack contains enough water to fill downstream reservoirs multiple times over', which could mean a rapid runoff

Spring has offered California a welcome reprieve from the record rains and historic snowfall that hammered the state in recent weeks, but a new danger wrought by the warming weather looms large. The state's enormous snowpack will soon begin to melt - and communities are bracing for waters to rise yet again. Trillions of gallons of water packed within the record level of snow blanketing the Sierra Nevada range are expected to rush into rivers and reservoirs as the weather heats up, heightening flood risks in areas already saturated by the state's extremely wet winter.

The snowpack, which stands at 233% of the 1 April average, contains enough water to fill downstream reservoirs multiple times over", said climate scientist Daniel Swain in an online briefing this week. That's a big deal," he added.