Half of California freed from drought thanks to heavy rain and snowfall

Same storm system now moving eastward, threatening the Southern Plains region and cancelling flights out of Texas

Snow capped mountains stand on the skyline behind a view of the Hollywood sign following heavy rain from winter storms, as seen from the Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area, on March 2, 2023, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP)

The National Weather Service's Los Angeles office had not issued a blizzard warning since 1989. EPA

Tremendous rains and snowfall since late last year have freed half of California from drought, but low groundwater levels remain a persistent problem. AP

Mountainous areas of California experienced nearly unprecedented snowfall accumulations. AP

Two palms trees stand in front of snow-covered mountains in Hesperia, California. AP

A pair of residents at the Cedar Park apartments in Grass Valley take a break from shovelling snow during another blizzard earlier this week. AP

A tree toppled by high winds crushed a car in Los Angeles. EPA

A river swells during heavy rain and snow in Los Angeles. EPA

A Joshua tree is covered in snow near the Cajon Pass in Oak Hills. AP

Vehicles make their way along the I-15 as clouds pass through the snow-covered mountains near Hesperia. AP

Emergency crews are scrambling to shuttle food and medicine to residents of California mountain communities stranded by back-to-back winter storms. AP

Tents at Curry Village in Yosemite National Park seen covered with snow. AP

Yosemite National Park, closed due to heavy snow, postponed its planned March 2 reopening indefinitely. AP

This remote camera image shows a bald eagle warming its eggs in a nest near Big Bear Lake in southern California. AP

Record rains and snowfall since late last year have freed half of California from drought. AP

Recent rain and snow have provided relief to parched California. (AP Graphic)

Heavy rain and snowfall have relieved half of California from drought, though low groundwater levels remain a persistent problem, US Drought Monitor data showed on Thursday.

The latest analysis shows that moderate or severe drought is still affecting about 49 per cent of California, while nearly 17 per cent of the state is free of drought or “abnormally dry” conditions.

“Clearly the amount of water that's fallen this year has greatly alleviated the drought,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles.

“It has not ended the drought completely but we're in a very different place than we were a year ago.”

Three months ago, almost all of California was in drought, including at extreme and exceptional levels.

Water agencies serving millions of people, agriculture and industry were told to expect only a fraction of requested allocations.

The turnabout began with a series of atmospheric rivers that pounded the state from late December through mid-January, building a huge Sierra Nevada snowpack.

After a few largely dry weeks, powerful storms returned in February. Water authorities began boosting allocations.

As of Thursday, the water content of the Sierra snowpack, which provides about a third of California's water, was 170 per cent of the historical average on April 1, when it is normally at its peak, according to the state's Department of Water Resources.

The snowpack could become the largest ever observed in parts of California. The outlook calls for a continuing wet pattern, particularly for northern parts of the state, and possibly more metres of snow, Mr Swain said.

Meanwhile, this same system moved eastward on Thursday, threatening the Southern Plains region with severe weather and prompting the cancellation of hundreds of flights into and out of Dallas, Texas.

FlightAware reports Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field have tallied more than 400 cancellations, either to or from the airports, as the storm approaches the region.

“This is the same system that struck California and it's now in New Mexico and will be crossing Texas and then Arkansas,” said Rich Thompson, lead forecaster for the Storm Prediction Centre in Norman, Oklahoma.

He said high winds and hail pose the greatest threats.

“The really intense tornadoes don't seem likely,” Mr Thompson said. “We think the biggest threat will be very large hail, baseball-sized hail.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report