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
Score
Third Test, Day 2
New Zealand 274
Pakistan 139-3 (61 ov)
Pakistan trail by 135 runs with 7 wickets remaining in the innings
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
Abramovich London
A Kensington Palace Gardens house with 15 bedrooms is valued at more than £150 million.
A three-storey penthouse at Chelsea Waterfront bought for £22 million.
Steel company Evraz drops more than 10 per cent in trading after UK officials said it was potentially supplying the Russian military.
Sale of Chelsea Football Club is now impossible.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The biog
DOB: March 13, 1987
Place of birth: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia but lived in Virginia in the US and raised in Lebanon
School: ACS in Lebanon
University: BSA in Graphic Design at the American University of Beirut
MSA in Design Entrepreneurship at the School of Visual Arts in New York City
Nationality: Lebanese
Status: Single
Favourite thing to do: I really enjoy cycling, I was a participant in Cycling for Gaza for the second time this year
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
Know your Camel lingo
The bairaq is a competition for the best herd of 50 camels, named for the banner its winner takes home
Namoos - a word of congratulations reserved for falconry competitions, camel races and camel pageants. It best translates as 'the pride of victory' - and for competitors, it is priceless
Asayel camels - sleek, short-haired hound-like racers
Majahim - chocolate-brown camels that can grow to weigh two tonnes. They were only valued for milk until camel pageantry took off in the 1990s
Millions Street - the thoroughfare where camels are led and where white 4x4s throng throughout the festival
