California's Snowpack Is Looking Much Healthier Compared to 2015

What a difference a year and a whole lot of precipitation can make. At this time in 2015, the Sierra Nevadas were clinging to the meteorological equivalent of a lousy combover of snow. Today they boast a thick mane of powder, which with luck will help with the state’s water needs when it melts.

Take a gander at this National Weather Service comparison of March 2015, at left, and March 15, 2016. Last March, the snowpack was at only 17 percent of average; now it’s at 92 percent (even better than the erroneous 83 percent the NWS originally stated).