A Thursday update from the U.S. Drought Monitor shows the eastern slopes of California’s Sierra Nevada are drying — and the lack of snow accumulation could accelerate unfavorable conditions.

The second manual snow survey of the water season — which began Oct. 1 — showed moderate improvement to the state’s snowpack but conditions remain “far below normal,” according to a news release from the California Department of Water Resources.

A weekly map that illustrates drought intensities across the country shows the state’s “abnormally dry” status spiked more than 6% to nearly 9.5%.

Before Tuesday, abnormally dry conditions in California remained in the 3% range since Dec. 5.

California has not seen conditions this dry since Aug. 15, when 25.44% of the state was considered abnormally dry.

Sierra Nevada sees lower-than-average snowpack

Last winter’s string of aggressive atmospheric river storms created the deepest snowpack recorded across the Sierra Nevada in at least 40 years.

This winter season, although wet, has not produced nearly as much snow.

The snowpack at Phillips Station, located west of Lake Tahoe, recorded 29 inches of snow on Tuesday morning during a snow survey by the state water agency.

That’s 58% of the average to date and about 41% of the average for April 1, department spokesperson Ryan Endean said in a briefing shortly after the survey.

The guideline is used to forecast the state’s water supply in the drier summer months.

It’s possible California could see above-average rain combined with below-average snow, resulting in what’s called a “snow drought,” officials said in a Tuesday briefing.

Statewide, the average snow-water equivalent is 8.4 inches — 52% of the historical average for this year and 32% of the April average.

One year ago, according to a news release, the statewide snowpack was measured at 214% of the historical average for Feb. 1.

What is California’s drought status?

California is a drought-free state, which is similar to what was monitored in March 2020, according to a Thursday update from the U.S. Drought Monitor.

No one has lived in a drought area in California since November, a significant decrease from roughly 3,000 people in October and about 9,800 people in September.

Approximately 903,000 people remained in drought areas in August.

The update showed 0% of California has “moderate drought,” down from 0.07% on Oct. 10.

Roughly 9.5% of the state — parts of Siskiyou, Modoc, Lassen, Plumas, Sierra, Nevada, Placer, El Dorado, Alpine, Mono, Inyo, San Bernardino and Riverside counties — remained abnormally dry as of Tuesday, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

In January, the list only included portions of Siskiyou, Modoc, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

From May to mid-August, between 25% and 32% of the state was under a moderate drought, the U.S. Drought Monitor said.

The state has been without “severe,” “extreme” and “exceptional” drought conditions since April.

Nearly a quarter of the state briefly spiked to a moderate drought status on Sept. 19 — before decreasing to less than 0.1% one week later — for the first time since February 2020.

The state has been free of moderate drought since Oct. 17, the U.S. Drought Monitor states.

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