SIERRA NEVADA, Calif. (KRON) --  Record-breaking hot temperatures in March wiped-out Northern California's winter snowpack, state officials said. On Wednesday, a team with the California Department of Water Resources conducted its April snow survey at Phillips Station in the Sierra Nevada mountai ns. Their results found no measurable snow, even at 6,800 feet of elevation. The snow survey revealed a "stark indicator of how record‑hot March temperatures and high‑elevation rain have erased the Sierra Nevada snowpack months ahead of schedule," DWR wrote. A combination of warm rain storms, periods of dry weather, and unusually hot temperatures created by a heat dome rapidly melted what remained of the winter's sparse snowpack, officials said. Statewide, the snowpack is now just 18 percent of average for this date, according to DWR's snow sensor network. (Photo by Nick Shockey / California Department of Water Resources) The Southern Sierra snowpack is currently 32 percent of average, the Central Sierra is 21 percent, and Northern Sierra is just 6 percent. "What makes this year stand out is the disconnect between precipitation and snowpack. We received near-average precipitation in many parts of the state, but much of it fell as rain instead of snow. That led to one of the lowest April snowpacks on record and one of the earliest peaks we’ve seen in decades," said Andy Reising, manager of DWR’s Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting Unit. April is typically when the snowpack reaches its maximum volume and begins to melt. This year’s snowpack likely reached its peak around February 24, state officials said. "It feels like we skipped spring this year and dropped straight into a summer heatwave," said DWR Director Karla Nemeth. “What should be gradual snowmelt happened suddenly weeks ago." The Sierra Nevada snowpack is considered California’s "frozen reservoir" for its natural ability to store water, and it usually supplies 30 percent of the state’s water needs. Even with a bleak supply of snow, California is not in a drought. State water officials said most reservoirs remain at, or above, average. ...read more read less