After years of drought and water restrictions, Californians have had a reprieve in the past two years.
In 2023, the state was hit by a record number of storms fueled by atmospheric rivers, lifting most places out of drought and transforming a withered landscape into a green one.
This year, winter storms have once again brought much-needed precipitation to California. As of Friday, only 4.5% of the state was abnormally dry, according to the National Integrated Drought Information System.
Those small regions were not dry enough to qualify as drought. They were located on the state line, near the borders of Arizona, Nevada and Oregon.
The image below shows the state as seen by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Worldview satellite on November 9, 2023, left, and again on March 15, 2024.
The juxtaposed images show the Central Valley turning from brown to a deep green and snow thickening substantially in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
In January and February, the state received 11.1 inches of precipitation, 3 inches more than normal, according to NIDIS data.
By March 15, the statewide snowpack level was at 104% of the day's historical levels, according to the California Department of Water Resources.
In the Sierra Norte, snow was especially abundant, reaching 118% of historical levels. In the Central Sierra, the figure was 101%, and the Southern Sierra was just shy of its normal snowpack of 95%.
The image below zooms in on Southern California and shows the region from space on November 9, 2023, left, and again four months later on March 9, 2024.
The starkest color difference occurred in northern Santa Barbara County, where the landscape turned from brown to green.
Several mountains outside the Southern Sierra were covered in snow. Mountains near Ventura, Grapevine, San Bernardino, and Palm Springs showed snowy peaks on March 9, but most had dissipated by March 15.
Although California is currently enjoying a streak of rain, drought is never far from experts' minds.
State regulators are currently in the middle of a battle over future water regulations. After the rejection, they recently relaxed requirements for urban suppliers that will reduce water savings in the future.
