Drought

California’s state flower, the California poppy, is in full bloom throughout the semiarid foothills of Southern California, thanks in part to an unusually wet winter.

California’s snowpack in the Sierra Nevada and its system of dams are looking healthy in the wake of several weeks of rain and snow that defied experts’ predictions and pulled half of the state out of drought this week.

Half of the State of California is officially free from drought, thanks to a winter that has defied predictions and brought weeks of rain and snow to a state that had endured extremely dry conditions for the past three years.

The California Department of Water Resources announced Wednesday that it is boosting its water allocations to 35% of the amounts requested by local agencies, up from 30%, as more rain and snow arrive in the state.

The multi-year drought may be easing thanks to recent storms, but scientists suggest that Lake Mead and Lake Powell, reservoirs on the Colorado River, may not refill “in our lifestimes,” according to the Los Angeles Times.

The snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California is at the highest level since 1995, thanks to a series of “atmospheric river” storms at the new year, and another this week, holding hopes for ending the drought.

The California State Water Project announced Thursday that it will boost its water allocations to local agencies and users this year from 5% of the amounts requested to 30% of the amounts requested, after the recent rains.

Legislators have written “strongly worded letters” to state and federal officials demanding to know why 95% of the rainwater that fell on California in recent weeks was allowed to wash out to sea in the California Delta.

The rain that fell on California in recent weeks could have supplied the state’s water needs for 10 years — if it had been captured and stored. Unfortunately, most of the water is being left to drain to the Pacific Ocean.

The San Francisco Bay Area has experienced the wettest three-week period since Abraham Lincoln was president during the Great Flood of 1862 — and the winter isn’t over yet.

Californians are asking where the state’s new reservoirs are — the ones voters approved nearly a decade ago to mitigate drought, which have yet to be built — as trillions of gallons of water from recent rains wash out to

Recent winter storms have brought rain and flooding to California — but have also provided a generous boon to ski resorts, some of which boast impressive snow totals in excess of 300 inches, with the winter just starting.

Prince Harry, his wife Meghan, and celebrity neighbors such as Oprah Winfrey have been ordered to evacuate their homes in wealthy Montecito, California, as ongoing rains and flooding threaten widespread destruction.

California residents in river towns are bracing for flooding as another “atmospheric river” is set to arrive in the state, bringing several more inches of rain to residents still struggling with drought and now facing a deluge.

Californians are bracing for flooding as another “atmospheric river” is set to arrive by Tuesday, following storms this week and last week that brought record rainfall to the San Francisco Bay Area.

California is bracing for a “bomb cyclone” that will accompany several “atmospheric rivers” starting Wednesday, bringing high winds and heavy rain and snow to a state that has been drenched since last week.

California is bracing for another major winter rainstorm this week, which will bring much-needed relief to the drought-stricken state — as well as potential flooding.

Historic, heavy rainfall in the San Francisco area has caused “sewer geysers” to explode on city streets, sending jets of water high into the air as the city’s overwhelmed drains cannot contain the high volume of rainwater.

California expects to be drenched by an ongoing storm that began shortly after Christmas and will last roughly 12 days before it is done, bringing nearly a foot of rain to the San Francisco Bay Area amid a severe drought.

The United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, warned Monday that Somalia stands on the “brink of famine” due to the worst drought in four decades.

The Chinese government announced the southwestern city of Chengdu, provincial capital of Sichuan with a population of 21 million, will be under coronavirus lockdown from Thursday evening at 6:00 p.m.

Torrential rain hammered southern China’s Sichuan province over the weekend after several weeks of drought causing the region’s landscape to suffer flash flooding that forced the evacuation of nearly 50,000 people as of Sunday, China’s state-run Global Times reported.

China’s ruling Communist Party ordered its meteorological bureau to dispatch special rain-making aircraft to drought-afflicted areas of the country’s south on Tuesday as part of a wider effort to protect China’s autumn harvest from ruination by a regional heatwave that began in June, the Global Times reported.

Bushfires have reportedly engulfed “several mountains” in Chongqing, a municipality within southern China’s Sichuan province, in recent days, the Global Times reported on Monday, noting that the wildfires have merely exacerbated an ongoing heatwave and drought across most of China’s southern region that began in June.

China’s central government on Monday was “ramping up” efforts to prevent an ongoing heatwave and drought from ruining much of the nation’s autumn grain harvest across China’s southern region, the Global Times reported, noting that the autumn grain harvest in jeopardy contributes 75 percent of China’s annual grain production on average.

Greenpeace East Asia published a report on Monday that found China’s most affluent cities and provinces are dramatically increasing their investments in fossil fuel projects, leaving climate activists flummoxed over China’s refusal to deliver on its “energy transition” promises.

A farmer in Colusa, California, voiced concern on Friday about being able to produce enough tomatoes for hungry consumers.

China’s central government issued its first national drought alert of 2022 on Thursday, advising authorities to “produce artificial rainfall when necessary” due to the “risk of wildfires” across vast swathes of China’s central and southern regions, according to Xinhua, the country’s official state press agency.

Spain’s severe drought has revealed an ancient stone circle located in a dam with low water levels.

Europe has been suffering through a drought of historic proportions, climate activists are taking aim at golf courses.

Human remains were found again at Lake Mead, marking the third such discovery since May as water levels within the reservoir continue to recede.

Lake Mead, the Colorado River dam near Las Vegas that is the nation’s largest reservoir, could become a “dead pool” if its level falls another 150 feet, placing its surface above the intakes for the Hoover Dam’s power generators.

Lake Tahoe has experienced unusual snow three times this June — not enough to impact the ongoing severe California drought, but enough to provoke amazement among travelers and curiosity from meteorologists.

The La Niña conditions that have contributed to the ongoing drought in the southwest United States is likely to continue into a third year, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

More than six million California residents have been hit with “unprecedented” water restrictions on Wednesday as the state manages the worst drought in recorded history. 

The State of California is about to begin removing the first of four dams on the Klamath River — despite an extreme drought and a looming electricity generation crisis — to improve habitat for migratory salmon and satisfy Native American groups.