California is beginning 2025 with a solid start to the winter snowpack, but more storms are needed to keep the state’s water supplies on track.

Thanks to a series of early winter storms, the first official survey of the season on Thursday found the vital California snowpack at a near-average level.

The results from the first snow survey of the season are in. Officials from the California Department of Water Resources performed the survey just south of Lake Tahoe and found that the snowpack is about 10% below normal. The survey took place at Phillips Station, which is just one of the 260 survey sites across the state.

An updated winter storm warning was issued by the NWS Hanford CA on Monday at 9:14 a.m. valid for Tuesday between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. The warning is for Yosemite, Upper San Joaquin River, Kaiser to Rodgers Ridge,

The Department of Water Resources conducted its first snow survey of the season at Phillips Station in the Sierra Nevada mountains on Thursday. The manual survey recorded 24 inches of snow depth and a snow water equivalent of nine inches.

As spring approaches and the snowpack melts, the water runs off into local streams and rivers, then state-run canals and dams for storage and use. Experts say that nearly a third of the water used in California annually comes from the snowpack.

California water officials are feeling somewhat optimistic about the state's snowpack but emphasized that they're hoping for more weather systems to keep the water supply at a healthy level. Heather Waldman looks at snow survey trends.