Northern Nevada had an average year for its snowpack, and sometimes being average isn't a bad thing.
Researchers measured 42.1 inches of liquid water on Mt. Rose Friday, which is above median for the end of the season.
"You know, the take home message is that this was a great year compared to the last four," said Jeff Anderson, a hydrologist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service. "Fortunately, we didn't dig the hole any deeper for the drought."
Anderson added that last week's surprise spring snowstorm offered a helpful boost, especially out east.
"The Ruby Mountains and the other mountains around Elko, they picked up a couple inches of water content, which is a couple feet of snow on the mountains and currently the upper Humboldt is 120% of average."
Anderson oversees about 100 snow telemetry sites across Northern Nevada.