(Wine-Searcher) - A ferocious storm has given rise to cautious optimism in California, but more rain is needed to break the drought.

In Sonoma County, people kayaked through the flooded streets of Healdsburg on Thursday, as the "Pineapple Express" storm made the record books.

Even the 4.66 inches (11.8 cm) it dumped in one day on Santa Rosa in Sonoma wasn't enough to dent the state's three-year drought. But winter forecasts have turned promising, and there is now a possibility that California will be wet enough for farmers next summer to avoid some of the water worries of 2015.

"It's helpful, absolutely," UC Cooperative farm advisor Mark Battany told Wine Searcher. "The Pineapple Express was impressive, with a lot of wine and rain, and it definitely helps."

More important is the NOAA 90-day forecast, which gives northern California a better-than-average chance of normal rainfall during the traditionally wet months of January through March.

The NOAA also now gives a 65 percent chance of an El Niño current developing in the Pacific this winter, and that usually leads to wet weather on the U.S. West Coast.

However, the state is so parched that normal conditions alone won't end the drought. Reservoirs are still well below capacity, particularly in the San Joaquin Valley, where most California-appellation wines come from. The NOAA says California would need five more massive storms like the Pineapple Express to really say the drought is over.

Moreover, temperatures stayed warm last week, which meant snow didn't accumulate in the Sierra mountains, the state's natural reservoir.

But farmers have to be happy with the loud kickoff to the rainy season. One issue for grapegrowers with the continuing drought is the buildup of salts in the soil, especially for people who irrigate with groundwater. As water levels drop, the percentage of minerals in the water gets higher, to the point where they can become poisonous for grapevines.

It takes an above-average rainfall to leech all the salts that have built up over the past three years, Battany said. "That's an issue for many crops. We need a lot of water. But as long as it's not another drought year, we'll take that."