On the strength of my hiking trips to California I take an interest in the snowpack in the Sierra Nevadas at this time of year. I've seen plenty of snow lingering well into the summer (for example as seen above near Lake Tahoe in July 2019). Even so California has experienced several periods of severe drought in the past twenty years and is arguably in an extended "megadrought".

 So it's good news that the statewide snowpack is currently at 174％ of average but time will tell. I seem to remember saying much the same thing at this point in January 2022 when the snowpack was at 160％. There followed the three driest months for California on record. On April 1st. the snowpack was at 38％.

 From the hiking perspective it has a bearing on when certain trails become accessible without alpine gear and when the wildflowers begin to bloom. In the wider context approximately one third of California's water supply comes from snowmelt.