The latest U.S. Drought Monitor shows the recent rains in California are not having much impact after three dry years.
"Despite a southward shift of the precipitation over the period, the moisture during the week not sufficient to afford drought relief to California," the report said. "The rain, which tallied locally more than 2 inches in northern California, will certainly benefit pastures and begin the process of aiding reservoirs. However, the moisture still fell well short of what is needed to ease the impacts of a three-year drought."
The report shows that most of the recent rain fell in the extreme and exceptional drought areas north of Sacramento.
"Farther south, the abysmal start to the current Water Year (which began Oct. 1) continued; rainfall to-date (since Oct. 1) has totaled 20 to 50 percent of normal in the Exceptional Drought areas around San Francisco, and locally less than 20 percent of normal in the Exceptional Drought areas around Los Angeles," the report stated. "Likewise, the dry, mostly mild start to the winter has left snowpacks in the Sierra Nevada well short of normal."
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