Every year, as winter winds down into April, officials with California’s Department of Water Resources perform their snowpack measurements for the last time. … March’s record-breaking warmth left the state’s snowpack at a mere 18% of its April 1 average. State officials and scientists are warning of strained water resources throughout the state and an earlier-than-usual fire season. The atypical heat was part of a larger wave of warm temperatures that swept through the continental U.S during March. The National Weather Service reported that from March 15 through the 26, more than 1,100 records for warm temperatures were tied or broken.

Other Sierra Nevada snowpack news:

• The Sacramento Bee (Calif.): Latest storm drops modest rain totals around Sacramento, dusting of Sierra snow
• SFGate: March’s heat smashed records. Calif.’s water experts just found one more.
• The Desert Sun (Palm Springs, Calif.): What to know as California April 1 snowpack hits second-lowest on record
• KCRW (Santa Monica, Calif.): Calif.’s record-low snowpack could mean fires, water rationing
• CBS Sacramento (Calif.): Sierra snowpack’s near-historic lows after recent California storms raise summer water concerns
• University of Nevada, Reno: Blog: SNOWPACS project helps Walker River Basin communities navigate a changing water future