By Jon Erdman, Weather.com

While this fall and winter have provided needed rain and Sierra snow in California, time is running out for significant drought relief from this strong El Niño as we head into spring.

After an optimistically wet start to the rainy season in the Golden State, including the highest Sierra snowpack measured in five years in late January, February has trended much drier, despite a record-tying El Niño.

Tahoe City has barely managed just over a foot of snow – 13.5 inches to be exact – in February, so far, virtually all during one storm on Feb. 18-19.

According to the California Department of Water Resources, snowpack water content Feb. 25 ranged 84 to 96 percent of the late-February average in the Sierra.

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