The winter storms that dumped heavy snow and rain across California early in 2021 are likely not enough to negate what will be a critically dry year, state water officials believe. California’s Department of Water Resources on Tuesday recorded a snow depth of 56 inches and water content of 21 inches at Phillips Station in the Sierra Nevada. The water content of the overall snowpack was 61% of the average for March 2 and 54% of the average for April 1, when it is historically at its maximum.

Related articles: 

• The Mercury News: Sierra snowpack at 61% as new drought looms for California this summer 
• NBC Bay Area: Seventh Driest Bay Area Rain Season
• KTLA5: California likely faces a critically dry year, with reservoirs and Sierra snowpack already well below average
• Tahoe Daily Tribune: Without a series of storms, California facing critically dry year
• Ag Net West: California Snow Levels Low, Matching Water Storage Levels
• Merced Sun-Star: Is California in for drought? Second dry winter evident in latest Sierra snowpack reading
• ABC10: California’s grim water totals show ‘well below’ normal rainfall totals
• The Weather Channel: Pattern Shift Likely to Bring Much-Needed Rain, Snow to Parts of California, the West Into Next Week