Del Norte is Drought-Free

The drought is over — for Del Norte County, at least. That’s according to a new map released Thursday by the U.S. Drought Monitor.  

Del Norte is the first California county to fully exit the drought after the state’s intense rains. But other counties have also seen improvement. The entire state is now out of extreme drought.  

Three months ago, 93% of the state was in the “severe drought” category or worse. Today, just 43% of the state is in severe territory. Through Spring, most of the Bay Area is expected to be out of the drought fully, according to new projections from the U.S. Climate Prediction Center.  

The state saw 300% of its normal precipitation over the two-week period leading up to January 19. Reservoirs have been replenished and the Sierra Snowpack reached 250% of normal levels last week.

Do a dance and thanks the gods, everyone. Storm damage notwithstanding, we needed the rain.