SACRAMENTO (AP) -- State surveyors checking California's snowpack say a recent storm brought little help, and that snow levels in the Sierra Nevada are dangerously low.
California's Department of Water Resources on Thursday said the state's snowpack was at 12 percent of normal for this time of winter.
It was more bad news for the drought-stricken state facing more dry forecasts, little mountain snow and dwindling reservoirs.
The northern and central Sierra snowpack provides about a third of California's water supply.
State climatologist Michael Anderson says only 1.53 inches of rain was recorded from October through December, the lowest aggregate total in records dating back to 1895.
Officials say 2013 was also state's driest calendar year since records started being kept.