California begins 2025 with solid start to winter snowpack, but more storms are needed California is beginning 2025 with a solid start to the winter snowpack, officials said Thursday, but they cautioned that more storms are needed to keep the state's water supplies on track.
Officials at Phillips Station in the Sierra Nevada, a mountain range that covers the eastern part of the state, recorded a snow depth of 24 inches (61 centimeters), said Andy Reising, manager of the Department of Water Resources' snow surveys and water supply forecasting unit.
The water content of the snowpack at the station was 91% of the average to date and 37% of the average on April 1, when the Sierra snowpack is typically at its peak, he said.
The snowpack functions as a huge frozen reservoir, providing nearly a third of the water used annually in California as it melts and runs off into streams and rivers in the spring.
“As of right now, I am feeling OK, but ... we'll need a progression of monthly storms to keep going,” Reising said, adding that the northern half of the state has seen a series of storms but the south has been dry.
