California’s second snow survey set for Thursday

The state Department of Water Resources says it expects to find below-normal snowpack when it carries the winter’s second survey in the Sierra Nevada.

The department says measurements at an elevation of about 6,800 feet some 90 miles east of Sacramento will being Thursday morning. Results should be available by early afternoon.

The water content of the snow measured in December during the winter’s first survey was about 33 percent of average.

The department says 2014 was the warmest year ever in California since record-keeping began in the 1800’s.

Officials say early-December storms blew in on warm weather and the snowpack is far below its average water content in late January.

California’s snowpack supplies about a third of the water needed by the state.