calif snow "California's snowpack is deepest in five years" L.A. Times January 21, 2016 See also: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2015/oct/09/global-warming-is-shrinking-californias-critical-snowpack drought over California's Drought Emergency Is Over, State Water Districts Say By Associated Press Published Apr 21 2016 03:17 PM EDT After years of strict regulations brought on by a severe drought, California residents may soon be able to water their lawns again. The state's water districts are expected to suggest state regulators ease or eliminate the drought emergency that has been in place since last year. The water providers say they want to have the power to issue conservation measures that the state currently holds. floods California Floods Its Fields to Keep Its Cities From Flooding "TO SEE HOW CLOSE California is to being drowned by its recent winter storms, just look to the small crowd of spectators and TV newscasters gathered yesterday on the northwest side of the state capital hoping to watch state water managers open the gates of the Sacramento Weir. The weir, something between a dam and a levee, lets dangerously high water spill over its top into a long, narrow, floodplain filled with rice paddies, grain fields, and other row crops. Californians pay attention to the weir for three reasons. One: People here are obsessed with water. Two: The thing hasn’t been opened in a decade. Three: Opening the 100-year old piece of infrastructure is a spectacle, requiring a person wielding a long, hooked pole to manually unlatch each of its 48 wooden floodgates..."

sf2016 SF Bay Area colder in July than February shasta California's Shasta Lake, Parched By Years of Drought, Now Above Capacity By Sean Breslin Published May 31 2016 11:18 AM EDT But the rains came this winter, fueled by the El Niño pattern, and have replenished the lake. It's been such a beneficial rainy season that Shasta Lake is now at 109 percent of historical capacity for this time of year, according to Climate Central. This is the first time in three years that the lake has reached these levels, the report added. The lake dropped all the way down to just 29 percent of capacity last year, (PHOTOS: 11 Images That Show California Drought's Improvement)