Winter storms ease California drought

By Sharon Bernstein SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - Wet winter storms that dropped up to a foot (30 cm) of rain on parts of California have modestly eased the state's ongoing drought over the past three months, U.S. drought experts said on Thursday. The portion of California in the most extreme categories of drought has dropped by about 13 percent since mid-November, said Mark Svoboda, a climatologist with the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska. The relief provided by two so-called atmospheric rivers is far from enough to make more than a dent in California's ongoing dry conditions, which are entering their fourth year. Part of the reason is that it was relatively warm during the most recent storms, which occurred in early February, leading to rain but not to the snow that is needed in California's Sierra Nevada mountains, which provides drinking water and protection from fire when it melts in the spring.

Continue reading...