Even though the rainy season didn’t begin until Thanksgiving, the Sierra snowpack is off to a good start in most areas of the state, with many of the peaks seeing double the normal amount for early December. It’s 125-percent in the southern range, 109-percent in the central range, but only 78-percent in the northern range. Chris Orrock, with the Department of Water Resources, says the numbers are promising…

click to listen to Chris Orrock

More than 60-percent of California’s water supply comes from the Sierra Nevada. Orrock says it’s become even more difficult to predict snowpack amounts over the winter…

click to listen to Chris Orrock

The news has been good despite the long-lasting drought across the state. Dry conditions dominated from 2011 to 2016. But the 2016-2017 season was one of the wettest on record. The first official snow survey of the season is January third, with surveys monthly usually through April.