February storms provide boost but snowpack remains below average 

News release 

The Department of Water Resources conducted the third snow survey of the season at Phillips Station on Friday. The manual survey recorded 28 inches of snow depth and a snow water equivalent of 11 inches, which is 47% of average for this location.  

The snow water equivalent measures the amount of water contained in the snowpack and is a key component of DWR’s water supply forecast. Statewide, the snowpack is 66% of average for this date.  

The snow survey results show an increase from last month’s measurements following a series of cold, major snow-producing storms that ended a five-week dry period. Unfortunately, the recent storms were not enough to get the state back to average conditions for this time of year, said a DWR news release. Warmer storms early last week also caused snowmelt at lower elevations. 

“Although the storms we saw in mid-February were some of the coldest and best snow-producing storms we have seen since 2023, they were not enough to get us back to average conditions,” Andy Reising, manager of DWR’s Snow Survey’s and Water Supply Forecasting Unit, said in the release. “The snowpack is in better shape than it was one month ago, but we only have a month left of our snow-accumulation season and time is rapidly running out to catch up. Statewide, we are only about 57% of where we hope to be by April 1.” 

Storms this season have also been unevenly distributed across the Sierra Nevada. While the Southern Sierra Nevada is 90% average, the Northern Sierra Nevada, where several of the largest major water supply reservoirs are located, is only 46% normal for this time. 

“Water supply in California increasingly depends on a small number of big storms,” DWR Director Karla Nemeth said in the release. “We face higher drought risk when they don’t arrive and greater urgency to modernize infrastructure to capture water when they do. The dramatic wet-dry swings this winter remind us again that ever-warmer average temperatures have reshaped the California water cycle. We must adapt.” 

On average, the largest snow-producing months in the Sierra Nevada are December, January, February and March. Historically, the snowpack peaks on or near April 1, after which the snowpack transitions to generating run-off into California’s rivers and reservoirs.  

While the snowpack remains below average, major reservoirs statewide are currently 122% of average. State water managers, including the State Water Project, continue to focus on efforts to capture and store as much water as possible. The monthly snow surveys play a critical role in how the State Water Project allocates water each year. 

The Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency gets about half of its water supply via the State Water Project, which has Castaic Lake as a southern terminus. 

On average, the Sierra snowpack supplies about 30% of California’s water needs. Its natural ability to store water is why the Sierra snowpack is often referred to as California’s “frozen reservoir.” Data from these snow surveys and forecasts produced by DWR’s Snow Surveys and Water Supply Forecasting Unit are key factors in determining how DWR manages the state’s water resources. 

DWR conducts four media-oriented snow surveys at Phillips Station each winter near the first of each month, January through April and, if necessary, May. The next survey is tentatively scheduled for April 1. 

For California’s current hydrological conditions, visit cww.water.ca.gov.