Western states should expect normal water supplies this season, according to a report from the USDA's National Water and Climate Center, except for California and the Southwest. In the first water forecast of 2015, the NWCC notes that snowpack and streamflow forecasts are close to normal throughout the West, but that California will once again remain unusually dry.Snowmelt accounts for a significant amount of the water supply in most western states, and one of the lasting effects of the California drought was that conditions started off dry in October of last year, when the snow accumulation season begins. While snowpack conditions in California along the Sierras are below normal for this time of year, they are not as low as they were during this time last year. But the state's major reservoirs remain at below average capacity.
“This is just the first forecast of the season; everything can change,” said NWCC hydrologist, Cara McCarthy. “A weak El Nino is forecast for this year, which might play a part in coming months.” El Nino tends to bring more water to the Southwest than to the Pacific Northwest, so there is the possibility that Southwestern states could receive more water than the first forecast of the season predicted.