NWS: Northern California now on pace for 'wettest water year on record'

After many long years of waiting, California's drought relief may finally be here. Snow has piled up over five feet in some parts of the Sierra Nevada since the Sunday storm. And while the first snow survey of the year actually came in below average in terms of snow accumulation, there are reasons for optimism.

"Right now we are on pace to have the wettest water year on record," said forecaster Mike Kochasic with the National Weather Service in Sacramento, referencing conditions in Northern California. "The wettest was 1982-1983, and we're on pace or even slightly better than that at this point in the water year. We still have a long way to go, though."

Central California is on track to be the second wettest water year on record, and Southern California is expected to tie the wettest year, which was the year of '68-'69.

"It's awesome for the drought," he said. "Hopefully it's going to kick it out the door."

On Thursday morning, NWS reported totals of reaching 83 inches at Squaw Alpine Ski Resort, 76 inches at Soda Springs, 67 inches at Sugarbowl, 62 inches Sierra at Tahoe, and 57 inches at Kingvale, all since Sunday. All those peaks are over 5,000 feet. It has also snowing buckets a little further south, where Mammoth Ski Resort has seen new snow accumulation of between 40 and 84 inches just in last day and a half.

Another storm is expected to roll through the mountains this weekend, but it won't pack as much snow as the last one.

Joe Johnson clears the snow from a neighbor's driveway near Kyburz, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017. The California Department of Water Resources held the first manual snow survey of the season near Phillips Station near Echo Summit, on Tuesday. The survey showed the snowpack at 53 percent of normal at the site for this time of year.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) less Joe Johnson clears the snow from a neighbor's driveway near Kyburz, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017. The California Department of Water Resources held the first manual snow survey of the season near Phillips ... more Photo: Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo: Rich Pedroncelli/AP Image 1 of / 43 Caption Close NWS: Northern California now on pace for 'wettest water year on record' 1 / 43 Back to Gallery

"The snow levels are going to continue to rise because the system is a warmer one, so it's going to be mostly rain," said Kochasic. "We've got a flooding threat because with the warmer temperatures, the snow will start to melt. We could see some excessive runoff, some smaller creeks and streams are swollen and might flood. The really high peaks might get some additional snowfall but its more a rainfall threat."

He wants to remind people that flooding can be dangerous. Just 6 to 12 inches of water is enough to move a car or knock a person off their feet.

"If waters are coming across the road, don't attempt to cross it," he said.

He hopes the snow and rain California is seeing so far will continue, and put a big dent in the long-lingering drought. Snow pack makes up about 1/3 of California's water supply.

A study released earlier this week by MIT researchers suggests that extreme storms may become more commonplace in California in the future. Scientists published their results in the Journal of Climate. They found that California will experience three times the number of extreme storms by 2100 if — as expected — the world's average temperatures are 4 degrees Celsius higher then they are today.