Sierra snowpack at 185 percent of normal

FRESNO, CA -- A near-record snowpack measurement in the Sierra Nevada mountains could signal the end of California's five-year drought.

The average snowpack across the entire range is at 185-percent of normal conditions according to the State Department of Water Resources.

The sierra provides about a third of California's water when the snow melts in the spring and summer. The snowpack has been fueled by an extremely wet winter.

The state's chief snow surveyor says the snowpack in some places is nearing levels last seen in 1983.