California’s drought has eased, but the state isn’t out of the woods yet
by Justine Calma from The Verge - All Posts on (#69WNM)
Flooded strawberry fields in Pajaro, California, on Wednesday, March 15th, 2023. | Image: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
An extremely wet winter has lifted much of California out of drought, and more rain is on the way. The deluge of rain and snowfall this season has wiped out exceptional and extreme drought in California" for the first time since 2020, according to a spring outlook published today by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The agency forecasts more improvement throughout spring, with even more regions potentially seeing their drought conditions end. Even so, California's recovery will be patchy, and it'll take years to replenish some crucial water sources. And as recent storms have already shown, the state will continue to face new dangers from flooding.
Climate change is driving both wet and dry extremes"
Climate...