🔗 Share this article California is Entirely Drought-Free for the First Instance in 25 Years. For the first time in 25 years, every region of California is experiencing dryness. This milestone arrives after difficult years marked by insufficient rainfall that worsened blaze threats and challenged its huge agribusiness. An Update Shows No Dryness A recent update from the national drought tracker confirmed that California in its entirety is clear of dry or drought conditions. This development was driven by weeks of above-normal rainfall that replenished water storage sites like Shasta and Oroville exceeding their typical levels. “To those aged 25 and below you’ve always lived in a world where California has been grappling with drought,” noted a local meteorologist. Following Powerful Weather to Wet Holidays Achieving this status included powerful and fatal winter storms that battered the state in the not-too-distant past, leading to significant overflow, power outages, and tragic losses. Even though those events started to mitigate the drought, they fell short of ending it. Even into late December, areas like the state's northeast corner were deemed abnormally dry. Subsequent downpours at the beginning of January eliminated those last vestiges of dryness. The Vital Sierra Snow Is Below Average But, hydrologists note that being out of drought does not mean having no water worries. Current readings of the mountain snow accumulation show it at approximately 70 percent of the typical level. This mountain snow, which provides about a third of the state's usable water as it thaws later in the year, is a critical factor for the year ahead. State experts stress that it is too early to determine the outlook for the coming year. “What we are observing right now is increased rainfall over snowfall,” explained a hydrology section chief. “The goal is the snow accumulation to pick up by 1 April so that we’re closer to average.” While the drought map shows a clean slate, attention turns to sustaining this hard-won hydrological health during the rest of the year.
For the first time in 25 years, every region of California is experiencing dryness. This milestone arrives after difficult years marked by insufficient rainfall that worsened blaze threats and challenged its huge agribusiness. An Update Shows No Dryness A recent update from the national drought tracker confirmed that California in its entirety is clear of dry or drought conditions. This development was driven by weeks of above-normal rainfall that replenished water storage sites like Shasta and Oroville exceeding their typical levels. “To those aged 25 and below you’ve always lived in a world where California has been grappling with drought,” noted a local meteorologist. Following Powerful Weather to Wet Holidays Achieving this status included powerful and fatal winter storms that battered the state in the not-too-distant past, leading to significant overflow, power outages, and tragic losses. Even though those events started to mitigate the drought, they fell short of ending it. Even into late December, areas like the state's northeast corner were deemed abnormally dry. Subsequent downpours at the beginning of January eliminated those last vestiges of dryness. The Vital Sierra Snow Is Below Average But, hydrologists note that being out of drought does not mean having no water worries. Current readings of the mountain snow accumulation show it at approximately 70 percent of the typical level. This mountain snow, which provides about a third of the state's usable water as it thaws later in the year, is a critical factor for the year ahead. State experts stress that it is too early to determine the outlook for the coming year. “What we are observing right now is increased rainfall over snowfall,” explained a hydrology section chief. “The goal is the snow accumulation to pick up by 1 April so that we’re closer to average.” While the drought map shows a clean slate, attention turns to sustaining this hard-won hydrological health during the rest of the year.