The snowstorm that hit the state this week may help lawns but might not be enough to stop water rationing this summer.

The 4 to 6 inches of snow that fell on Colorado slowed the rapid runoff but did little to replenish the basins or the reservoirs.

"The statewide snowpack is 76 percent of average, down considerably from March 1, when it was 92 percent statewide," said Mike Gillespie, snow survey supervisor with the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

At 6 a.m. Thursday, Denver officially had 4.1 inches of snow. Elsewhere the amounts ranged from 2 inches in west Arvada to 9 inches about two miles southeast of Highlands Ranch. Evergreen had 1.5 inches, but Northglenn and Littleton reported 6 inches.

While the forecast for the metro area called for more snow overnight and occasional snow showers today, no additional accumulations are expected.

"It's been warm for several days, so it will not stick to the pavement," said Carl Burroughs, forecast meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boulder. "It will stick on grass, the deck or on your car. The west side of town may get another inch or two but that's about it."

The snow this week won't make up for what has been an unusually dry March, typically the snowiest month of the year.

Normally, the metro area gets about 11.7 inches of snow in March, but this year only 6 inches have fallen. As for precipitation, this month should have about 1.18 inches, but as of Thursday, only 0.54 of an inch had been recorded.

The water supply for residents, however, isn't based on how much snow or moisture the local area gets. It is based on the amount of snowpack and water storage elsewhere.

Right now, the snowpack in the South Platte basin, which supplies the Denver area, is at 99 percent of average and the reservoir storage is at 86 percent.

"With the high snowpack, a lot of the reservoir storage will improve when we get into the melt season," Gillespie said. "We have good runoff projections, so that should help."

But elsewhere in the state, the outlook is not so rosy.

The snowpack in the San Juan/Animas/Dolores basin is 59 percent of average, while the Yampa/White basin is at 69 percent. The Gunnison is at 71 percent, while the Rio Grande is at 76 percent. The Colorado basin reports 83 percent of average while the Arkansas is topping out at 95 percent.

Normally, the average peak precipitation would be reached by April 12, but this year, that is all but impossible.

"We would need 868 percent of average (precipitation) to get back to average in that short period of time," Gillespie said. "The odds of that happening are practically zero."

"Two-foot blizzards would do wonders, but that's probably not going to happen," Gillespie said.