How do California drought conditions compare to last week? What we know after first storm

Although Northern California had a drenched start to the year with multiple storms flooding the region, drought conditions appear only slightly improved in some areas.

A weekly update from the U.S. Drought Monitor shows that as of Jan. 3, the entire state of California still has “abnormally dry” conditions.

That said, there are no areas with “exceptional drought” conditions, which is a decrease from 7.16% the previous week, Dec. 27.

About 27.1% of the state is in “extreme drought,” down from 35.5% and 71.1% is in “severe drought,” a drop from 80.5%.

Nearly 98% of California is in “moderate drought,” similar to last week.

But drought conditions in the six North Bay counties improved dramatically with the early January storms.

Category Lake Marin Mendocino Napa Solano Sonoma
Moderate
Jan. 3, 2023 1.53% 79.89% 33.98%
Dec. 27, 2022 55.81%
Severe
Jan. 3, 2023 41.96% 100% 18.98% 93.6% 30.2% 66.02%
Dec. 27, 2022 1.68% 100% 36.46% 9.68% 13.54% 73.84%
Extreme
Jan. 3, 2023 56.51% 1.13% 6.4% 69.8%
Dec. 27, 2022 98.32% 7.72% 90.32% 86.46% 26.16%
Percentage of North Bay county area in drought (Source: U.S. Drought Monitor)

Show Comment