In a boost for California’s water supply, a series of recent storms that blanketed the Sierra Nevada in snow has built the state’s snowpack to its highest December level since 2015.
The snowpack — a key source of the state’s water supply — measured 113% of average this week, roughly 40% higher than the snowpack during the same time in 2018, according to the Department of Water Resources.
Data show the snowpack on Monday — the most recent date statistics were compiled — was also 182% higher than the same day in 2017, which was a banner year for precipitation that pulled large swaths of Northern California out of persistent drought conditions.