Wet winter ends three year California drought

Wet winter ends three year California drought

Robert Besser
21 Mar 2023, 08:07 GMT+10

• The US government has reported that the exceptionally wet winter in California this year will offer relief from a three year drought and could cause increased flood risks in spring.
• For much of the past three years, California has been preoccupied with drought, heat and wildfires, so this year’s weather highlights a dramatic swing in conditions.
• According to the agency’s spring outlook, 44 percent of the US has a greater-than-50 percent chance of flooding in April, May and June, mostly east of the Mississippi River.

WASHINGTON D.C.: The US government has reported that the exceptionally wet winter in California this year will offer relief from a three year drought and could cause increased flood risks in spring.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that like much of the country, there are higher odds of minor to moderate flooding across most of California from rain and runoff of melting mountain snow this spring.

For much of the past three years, California has been preoccupied with drought, heat and wildfires, so this year’s weather highlights a dramatic swing in conditions.

According to the agency’s spring outlook, 44 percent of the US has a greater-than-50 percent chance of flooding in April, May and June, mostly east of the Mississippi River, though much of this potential flooding has bee