Is the California drought over? What’s the situation after the latest snowstorms?

After weeks of rain and snowstorms, California’s extreme drought, the second-highest degree, has virtually ended, for now.

The high precipitation was limited West of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, which did little to replenish Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the nation’s two biggest reservoirs. The U.S. Drought Monitor reported 0.0% extreme drought in California on Feb. 23 and severe drought is down to 32.6%.

Due to the additional rainfall and snow, California and Nevada’s extreme drought designation was downgraded the week before. California is currently expriencing a moderate drought of 84.6 percent.

Multiple seasons of 120%–200% rain and snowfall are needed to end the drought

The Sierra Nevada area has already received 87%–192% of its seasonal precipitation. Nate Stephenson, a scientist emeritus at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Western Ecological Research Center, told ABC News that snowfall is better than rain because it melts slowly and is better absorbed by the land, creating a “water bank” for spring and summer.

California is at 181 perecent of its usual snowpack for this time of year

Because La Niña is leaving the area, wet weather could carry on in Calfornia, which would improve the state’s drought situation.

California’s biggest reservoirs are also recovering. The Otay Reservoir in South San Diego is currently at 82 percent of its capacity.

LeRoy Westerling, a climate scientist at UC Merced said: “Reservoirs are filling up, (but) you can look at it from the point of view of water storage, from the point of view of agriculture, from the point of view of ecosystems, from the point of view of wildfire. All these things have slightly different profiles.”