Headline
California snowpack and drought show improvement over last year
United States
Snowpack comparison in the Sierra Nevada May 4, 2016 (left) to May 4, 2015 (right). As you can see, the amount of snowpack (purple shadings) in the Sierra is much greater than a year ago at this time. Image: NOAA
A severe drought that has prevailed in California since 2011 is improving due to increased precipitation and a greater snowpack over the past few months. The presence of a strong El Niño heightened anticipation of a "banner" snowfall season across the Sierra Nevada, but the results were more checkered
