California is beginning 2024 with a below-normal mountain snowpack a year after it had one of its best starts in decades with storms that pulled the state out of drought. Officials now say the weather whiplash has made the outcome of this winter uncertain. California Department of Water Resources measurements Tuesday show the water content of the statewide snowpack is 25% of the average to date. A year ago it was 177% of average by early January. Water Resources official Sean de Guzman says it’s still too early to determine whether California will have a wet or dry year.