• Updated

California remains in the grip of a yearslong drought but the U.S. Drought Monitor's weekly report shows that recent storms have led to some improvement. The latest map issued Thursday shows some contraction in all categories of drought, including "exceptional" and "extreme," compared to a week earlier. The monitor points to heavy rainfall in some of the coastal mountain ranges and heavy snow in the central Sierra Nevada. While the monitor's report is modestly positive, early season storms can abruptly give way to a dry winter and experts say it would take multiple years of significant precipitation to overcome deficits.