Washington state’s drought status isn’t looking much better after the recent bout of storms, though the drier side of the state is faring better than the west side, state officials say. 

A warm start to the current water year that started in October, which has worsened snowpack conditions, and below average precipitation across most of the state are the primary culprits, according to a release from the state Department of Ecology. The Olympic Peninsula and northern and central Cascades received less than a third of the normal precipitation they see on average. 

However, the Tri-Cities and Spokane saw near-normal precipitation in January and the first part of February. Cold temperatures have led to runoff being largely below average for the east side of the state and the snow water equivalent in the upper and lower Yakima Valley is 86% and 82%, respectively. 

“The eastern side of Washington is looking slightly more optimistic than the west,” the release said. 

But precipitation is still below average for the east side and the Yakima Valley has a lot of ground to make up. The Yakima reservoir system, run by the federal Bureau of Reclamation, is the lowest since 1971 at 34% full. That means the region needs an above-average snowpack to reach drought recovery.