California snowpack at lowest level on record

California's snowpack is at historically low levels, a casualty of the state's wimpy winter and ongoing drought.

In Northern California, the Sierra Nevada snowpack's water content is at its lowest late-March level since records began in 1950, at just 6% of the late-March average, the California Department of Water Resources said Monday.

The snow's water content is a key measurement for water resource managers, since it measures the amount that will trickle into the state's reservoirs when it melts later in the spring.

More than 98% of the state of California remains in some level of drought, according to the most recent U.S. Drought Monitor, a website that tracks drought across the country. The drought has been exacerbated by the state's warmest winter on record.

A manual snow survey will be conducted Wednesday in the Sierra, about 90 miles east of Sacramento. Normally, snowpack is at its peak on April 1.