Overview

• California is experiencing a severe, early season 'snow drought' despite recent storms, with snowpack at or below all-time record-low numbers for the beginning of January.
• Snowpack conditions are crucial as Californians have depended on spring and summer snowmelt to provide nearly a third of the state's water supply.
• Statewide snowpack is 25 percent of average, but significant snow is forecasted for the Sierras in the next seven days.
• Low precipitation and warm temperatures are causing snow drought conditions throughout the West, not just in the Sierra Nevada.
• Despite the snow drought, California's major reservoirs stand at 116% of average levels for the date, thanks to recent storms.