LA GRANDE — Despite the sudden and unexpected April snowstorms, snowpack levels aren’t quite back on track to where they need to be.

Snow has been falling since early this week, breaking records across the state for the latest snowfall in Oregon’s history with 1.6 inches falling April 11 on parts of the Portland-metro area, according to the National Weather Service in Portland.

And while snow isn’t unheard of this far into spring in the Blue Mountains — the latest snowfall recorded at Pendleton was April 20, 1963, according to the National Weather Service — it is a hopeful sign for a region still gripped by drought. However, the recent snowfall might not be enough to put municipalities and agriculturalists at ease.

Scott Oviatt, a hydrologist and snow survey supervisor at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service for Oregon, said while the recent addition to the snowpack is welcomed, it won’t fix the rapid melt-off that started in late March.

“We’ve started the process, and it’s really not going to stop,” he said. “We’re adding to the snowpack, of course, adding water content to it, but eventually it’s going to warm up, and it will melt out rapidly.”

The snowpack had been at healthy, above-average levels for January and February before rapidly declining in March — between March 22-31, the Grande Ronde Valley region lost nearly 25% of its snowpack. Many parts of the state, including the southeast region encompassing Harney, Grant and Malheur counties, have experienced drastically reduced snow water equivalent levels, having dropped below 40% of the median value for early April.

The current water content in the snowpack for the Grande Ronde-Burnt-Powder-Imnaha region remains at 76% of median as of April 12, while the Umatilla-Walla Walla-Willow region is at 93% of median values. Nearly 90% of the state remains under drought conditions as of April 12, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Oviatt said that despite the rapid melt-off, chances of flooding are unlikely as temperatures are forecast to remain below normal until later in April.

Because there isn’t enough time for gradual melting of the newly acquired snow and overnight freezing to take place, snowpack levels won’t become as dense, according to Oviatt.

That means what fell over the week will likely melt quickly without the chance to develop glacier-like pockets of moisture content.

“We’re almost too late to make up the deficit we have,” he said. “This didn’t solve our problems. It just delayed it. Obviously the additional water content is good, but I don’t think it’s going to come out in terms of additional volume that’s of use to municipalities and agricultural uses.”