California is completely drought-free for the first time in 25 years

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/53172375

California is completely drought-free for the first time in a quarter of a century, a significant development in a state that endured grueling years with insufficient rainfall.

Over the last 25 years, drought conditions in California have intensified the state’s wildfire crisis and created challenges in its massive agricultural sector. But a few wet years, and a recent spate of winter storms, helped bring the state out of drought.

A map published by the US Drought Monitor on Thursday showed that no part of the state is experiencing drought or abnormal dryness. The development came after weeks of above-normal rainfall that helped fill reservoirs in the state, including lakes Shasta and Oroville, far beyond their historic averages. The December holiday season has been one of the wettest on record for parts of southern California.

In 2005 and 2011, the state saw periods with less than 1% of abnormal dryness, noted the National Drought Mitigation Center, the academic partner of the US Drought Monitor.

This news marks the first time since the year 2000 that not a single square mile of California is dry on the US Drought Monitor, Drew Tuma, an ABC7 meteorologist, said in a post on social media.