By Elizabeth Zach, RCAC staff writer

In a state still suffering under drought conditions, recent winter storms in California’s Sierra Nevada have given meteorologists reason for cautious optimism.

It’s still early in the winter season, which ends in April.

“Right now, we’re looking good, but that could change tomorrow,” Chris Orrock, a spokesman for the California Department of Water Resources, told the Los Angeles Times. “There’s been years we’ve gotten a lot of snow earlier in the season and then we don’t get any for the rest of the year.”

Some years, the Sierra Nevada remains dry until late in the winter but then a storm can relieve the deficit. According to National Weather Service meteorologist Julie Malingowski, California still needs consistent precipitation for the Sierra’s snowpack levels to stay near or above normal.

To read more, go here: https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-sierra-nevada-snowpack-20181211-story.html