Conditions in context: snow cover Snow-covered area for the 2021 water year continued to decrease in April after reaching its maximum in mid-February (Figure 1, left). Storms in April increased the snow-covered area from values near the twenty-fifth percentile to near-average conditions. At this time of year, the total snow-covered area for the western United does not significantly vary from other years as most of the shallow snowpack has already melted, leaving snow mostly at higher elevations where the snowpack is deeper. However, certain regions within the western United States deviated significantly from average (Figure 1, right), with most states ending the season with less snow than is usual (Table 2). As previously noted, spring snowfall events pushed snow conditions above average in April for Wyoming, South Dakota, and Nebraska. Above average conditions seen in the Big Horn and Laramie Mountains of Wyoming extend through the Front Range (eastern portion) of Colorado. The northeastern portion of Oregon also had locations with above average snow-covered area. As a state, California had particularly low values for April snow-covered area at only 54 percent of average (Table 2; Figure 1, right).