California’s latest survey of snow levels in the Sierra Nevada shows the state continues to make gains against a punishing drought that seemed poised to drag on for a fourth consecutive year as recently as December.

In its third snow survey of the season Friday at El Dorado County’s Phillips Station in the Central Sierra, the state Department of Water Resources measured 116.5 inches of snow with a snow-water equivalent of 41.5 inches, which is 177 percent of average for the date of March 3, according to DWR.

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Kiley Russell writes primarily for Local News Matters on issues related to equity and the environment. A Bay Area native, he has lived most of his life in Oakland. He studied journalism at San Francisco State University, worked for the Associated Press and the former Contra Costa Times, among other outlets. He has covered everything from state legislatures, local governments, federal and state courts, crime, growth and development, political campaigns of various stripes, wildfires and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.