Two of Nation's Worst Droughts See Significant Improvement

Linda Lam
Published: January 26,2017
Two of the nation's worst drought areas have seen significant improvement thanks to several rounds of quenching precipitation in recent weeks.
Several rounds of heavy rain and snow have brought a major reduction to the drought in Southern California, while a stormy pattern also brought beneficial rain to areas of the South. As a result, the U.S. Drought Monitor released Thursday revealed the Lower 48 has no area in exceptional drought, the worst category possible, for the first time since April 4, 2011.
This rainfall was badly needed in both California and the South, but in some locations, the rain came with deadly flooding and severe thunderstorms.

Good News For Southern California

51.4 percent of California remains in various degrees of drought, ranging from moderate and severe to a small area categorized as extreme. Those drought conditions are all confined to the southern half of the Golden State.
Though a little more than half of California remains in at least moderate drought, that figure is the lowest since April 2013, nearly three years ago. Exceptional drought has been wiped out for the first time since Jan. 21, 2014.
(MORE: 'Januburied' in the Sierra Nevada)

Comparison of drought conditions in California from Jan. 24, 2017 to Jan. 5, 2016.
(U.S. Drought Monitor)

The most notable reduction in drought over the past week was in the severe and extreme categories. The area covered by severe drought fell from 44.4 percent to 26.5 percent, while extreme drought was almost wiped away, dropping from 24.3 percent to 2.2 percent.
In a little more than a year's time, the area covered by drought in the state has been nearly halved, while exceptional drought dropped from 45 percent on Jan. 5, 2016 to zero percent as of Tuesday.

Observed rainfall for selected California cities from Jan. 1-Jan. 25 compared to average for this time period.

Actual rainfall totals this month have been impressive, especially compared to recent years.
Through Wednesday, Los Angeles has received 8.38 inches of rain so far this January. That's more rain in 24 days than the city received in all of 2012 (8.15 inches), 2013 (3.60 inches) and 2015 (7.66 inches).
For many locations around the Bay Area, including San Francisco, this January has been the wettest since 1998.
Central California's Big Sur Station has seen 43.41 inches of precipitation this rainy season, which is classified as the 12-month period from July 1 through June 30. This already exceeds the historical average for those 12 months, which is 41.91 inches.
Given that this has been a multi-year dry spell, more precipitation is still needed to completely eliminate drought conditions from the southern half of California.
The U.S. Drought Monitor said groundwater levels remain "critically low" in some areas, despite the recent precipitation. Water supply comes from groundwater in the central foothills on the east side of the San Joaquin Valley where residents of Tuolumne County with dry wells are still receiving water that is trucked in.

Southern Drought Also Sees Improvement

Drought conditions in the Southeast have also undergone a significant reduction thanks to another recent soaking in the last week. This is especially the case when compared to conditions late last fall, when damaging wildfires struck the region.
(MORE: Destructive Gatlinburg Wildfire)

Observed precipitation Jan. 19-Jan. 26.
(NOAA)

In the past week, the area covered by extreme drought in the Southeast fell from 9 percent to near 1 percent, with the remaining pockets isolated to parts of north Georgia and central Alabama. In late-November, the area covered by extreme drought was nearly 32 percent.
The U.S. Drought Monitor includes Alabama, Georgia, Florida, the Carolinas and Virginia in its Southeast region.

Drought monitor as of January 24, 2017.
(U.S. Drought Monitor)

In Mississippi, the drought has been nearly eradicated. Just 11 percent of the state remains in drought, down from 55 percent last week, and 100 percent late last fall. Tennessee drought coverage has fallen from 100 percent in late November 2015 to 17 percent as of Tuesday.
More rounds of rain will be needed to completely end the drought in parts of the South.
Precipitation totals for the past 365 days still remain a foot or more below average in a swath from northeast Mississippi and northern Alabama to the western Carolinas, Tuesday's Drought Monitor report noted.

MORE: California Flooding