California's snowpack measurement results for 2018 'below average'

A couple of big storms cannot offset several dry months but the state's water outlook has improved. The measurement near Echo Summit revealed a 41-inch snowpack at Phillips Station, 39% of the average.

Frank Gehrke of the California Department of Water Resources says 28 inches of snow has fallen in the past six days in El Dorado County. Storms have piled up the snow to slow what appeared to be a return to drought conditions.

The snowpack provides about a third of the water for California farms and communities. Forty-one inches sounds good given our dry winter conditions but a year ago at the same location, Gehrke measured the snowpack at 112 inches.