State and local officials had been preparing emergency measures to ration what water supplies may be available during the upcoming growing season.

That is a time when the mountain snowpack normally melts in slow stages and filters into the state’s fertile lowlands after the rain stops and arid summertime heat sets in.

While the Sierra Nevada and Siskiyou mountains appear to have a full capping of snow in the image to the right, the moisture content and depths of that snow were at far lower levels that would normally be expected this late in the wet season.

Long-range weather outlooks point to above-normal precipitation for most parts of California for the remainder of February.

And while the recent storms from the Gulf of Alaska lifted the spirits of drought-weary California farmers and water managers, the state normally depends on rainfall arriving from a more southwesterly source at this time of year.

Subtropical moisture typically streams into the state during January, February and March from the area around Hawaii. Known as the "Pineapple Connection," California weather becomes "connected" to the juicy moisture of the tropics, making such storms able to produce multi-inch rainfall and even trigger flash flooding that actually replenishes key reservoirs.

The arrival of such storms would be needed to provide the necessary rainfall bounty to successfully irrigate one of the world’s most productive agricultural regions next summer.

Image Data: NASA MODIS Rapid Response System