Rain and snow helping to put dent in drought, snowpack at record levels for the date

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The national drought map has looked ominous for some with its dark red colors depicting extreme drought spread throughout California. For more than two years much of the state has been in at least a severe stage of drought, if not extreme.

Just one month ago, 85 percent of the state was in severe drought. Now that number is 46 percent - while there is still some stage of drought, the outlook is much better. There have been ten atmospheric rivers hit the state since the December measurement.

There has been a lot of water, but with so much in such a short amount of time much of it runs off into the ocean, not filling reservoirs and other water storage means as much as needed. As of January 13, the state's water supply reservoirs are closing in on average after three years of well below average. None are near capacity except for Cachuma (at 85 percent of capacity, 132 percent of average), and New Bullards Bar (at 76 percent of capacity, 120 percent of average).

A weekly U.S. Drought Monitor report is published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and other experts in the field.

“Intense precipitation in California the past few weeks particularly late December and early January has significantly reduced drought intensity in California,” said Richard Tinker, an NOAA Climate Prediction Center meteorologist.

The lowest amount of drought area in recent years in California was on November 17, 2020, when 41 percent of the state was in severe drought.

The snowpack in the state is helping to store some of that water falling over California with the highest amount of snowpack for this date ever. Currently, the state is at 224 percent of the average for January 13. For the central part of the state where US 50, I-80, and Lake Tahoe are located, the snowpack is 229 percent of the average, 109 percent of the April 1 average.

While California is showing an improvement in the drought, Nebraska is experiencing the opposite. Most of the state is in the severe-exceptional drought stage.