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RENO, Nev. (AP) — Weather watchers in the Sierra Nevada say they need a "Miracle March" to recover from an abysmal winter that's produced only one-third of the normal snowpack.
Experts say it has happened before — most recently in 2011 when nearly 17 feet of snow fell on Alpine Meadows, the biggest March total in 41 years.
In 1991, a series of late storms boosted snowpack from a low of about 16 percent on March 1 to more than 60 percent on April 1.
Federal water master Chad Blanchard told the Reno Gazette Journal (http://tinyurl.com/mck58ur ) another March escape from drought is possible, but not likely.
The National Weather Service's monthlong outlook for the Reno-Lake Tahoe area is calling for equal chances of a wetter- or drier-than-normal period over the next 30 days.
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Information from: Reno Gazette-Journal, http://www.rgj.com
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