That’s right, 12 billion gallons. Heavy snowfall brought a dramatic increase to the Sierra snowpack, which has lagged significantly below average levels this season. As much snow as normally falls in the Tahoe-Truckee area during the entire month of March fell during its first three days, experts said. Today, the Truckee River and Lake Tahoe Basin’s snowpacks were measured at 87 percent of average for the date, up from 79 percent Tuesday morning and the lower 70s a week ago. “I looked at those numbers two or three times this morning and just said, â?~Wow,'” said Dan Greenlee, a hydrologist with the U.S. Natural Resource Conservation Service. “It was a phenomenal storm,” Greenlee said. “We still need some more, but it’s definitely an improvement.” The storm dumped enough precipitation into Lake Tahoe in three days to raise its water level nearly 4 inches, increasing Tahoe’s water storage by about 38,000 acre-feet, Greenlee said. That’s more than 12 billion gallons. You can read the entire story at rgj.com