A June snowstorm just topped off the already thick layer of white stuff atop the Sierra Nevadas. California’s snow water equivalent rose to a heaping 170 percent of normal. But not so long ago, the state was in the midst of a deep drought; its mountains were bare and brown, and water levels plummeted in reservoirs.

Throughout, satellites were watching. Check out the California drought and its aftermath in a video from NASA Earth Observatory:

Tags: California, drought, precipitation, rain, record-breaking, Sierra Nevadas, snow, snowpack