California’s snow survey shows a remarkable amount has fallen. Why the drought persists

The first major Sierra snow survey of California’s brief wet season shows the winter is off to a remarkably snowy start.

On Thursday, the Department of Water Resources reported 78.5 inches of snow at Phillips, off Highway 50 near Echo Summit.

That’s 202% of average for that location for this time of the year, and 82% of average for how much snow would fall there by April 1, a key benchmark that state water managers consider the typical end of the state’s snow season.

Statewide, the Sierra snowpack is 160% of average to date.

“Obviously, we are off to a great start,” said Sean de Guzman, the manager of the snow surveys and water supply forecasting unit at the Department of Water Resources.

Still, de Guzman noted that the profound drought gripping the state is far from over. Most of the state’s major reservoirs have water levels that are substantially below average, and groundwater levels in the San Joaquin Valley never recovered from even the last drought that ended in 2017.

“We’re definitely not out of the woods quite yet,” he said.

This story was originally published December 30, 2021 at 12:36 PM.