Feds: Drought ends in San Joaquin.
Record Staff Writer @Alexbreitler After 1,892 days, the drought is over in San Joaquin County.
For San Joaquin, it is the first time since Dec. 27, 2011.
Portions of San Joaquin had still been considered "abnormally dry" heading into this week, but the U.S. Drought Monitor lifted that finding Thursday, citing an improvement in groundwater levels across the San Joaquin Valley.
Technically, the county and state remain under declared drought emergencies.
State officials have said they’ll review conditions in April, when the snowpack is usually at its peak and the water supply situation for the coming year is clearer.
Some, like the prohibition on hosing off streets or sidewalks, or using sprinklers within 48 hours of a storm, or allowing sprinkler water to escape from lawns, have been made permanent.
In a report published on Thursday, the Public Policy Institute of California says the state has over-tapped its groundwater by an average 2 million acre-feet per year over the past three decades, or an amount roughly equivalent to the state’s sixth-largest reservoir.
This ongoing water shortage is concentrated within the San Joaquin Valley, which faces "unprecedented challenges and inevitable change," the PPIC wrote.
— Contact reporter Alex Breitler at (209) 546-8295 or abreitler@recordnet.com.

Since Aug. 9, 2016 at least part of Massachusetts has been under an "extreme drought" as classified by the Drought Monitor.
The federal group dropped the percentage of the state still in its second-most-dire category to 0.01 percent — so little that the bright red indicator does not appear on the Monitor’s map — on Feb. 9 and that tiny sliver of extreme dryness has remained in each weekly report since.
"I bet there’s just a smidgen of it right on that state line," Richard Heim, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration meteorologist who wrote Thursday’s drought report for the Drought Monitor, said Thursday as he focused in on Southwick.
After checking Drought Monitor data and maps, Heim confirmed that the 0.01 percent of Massachusetts still experiencing an extreme drought is located right on the state line where Southwick meets Granby.
"The intent of that change three or four weeks ago was to pull D3 out of Massachusetts and into Connecticut where streamflows are the lowest and where there is long-term dryness."
At first, the 3.66 percent of the state under the category centered around Andover, Wilmington, North Reading, Tewksbury, Billerica, Concord and Lexington.
By late September, the red splotch grew into a sprawling stain across at least parts of every mainland county except Berkshire County – 52.13 percent of the state in total.
It receded from northeast to southwest, but not before spanning the state’s height.
Thursday’s update does not herald the end of the drought that has dehydrated Massachusetts for a year.
Almost all of mainland Massachusetts is under at least a "moderate drought" and about a third of the state is still classified as experiencing "severe drought" conditions.

(Jim Havard/Flickr) We’re not going to complain that Washington didn’t get any snow this winter.
The kicker is that this dry winter followed an exceptionally dry fall in which Washington tallied only 4.16 inches of rain, compared with its typical 10.3 inches.
In fact, in a total reversal of fortune, the D.C. region’s drought is now just as bad as California’s.
The capital might be experiencing a shortfall in precipitation this winter, but the West Coast arguably had way too much.
Meanwhile in the District, a measly 1.4 inches of snow fell this winter.
“The fact that we’re missing water has less of an impact than if it were at the start of the growing season.” He added that if we continued to get less-than-average rainfall through the winter, the situation would become more serious.
In mid-February, the National Weather Service in Sterling, Va., issued a cautionary drought impact statement.
“Given the time of year, impacts are fairly minimal,” the Feb. 16 statement said.
“However, with warm weather upcoming and the potential for plant growth to begin, impacts may begin to increase soon due to seasonably low groundwater and streamflow conditions.” In the following days, the temperature would spike to record highs in the D.C. region, including an incredible 80 degrees on March 1.
This doesn’t bode well for the 2017 growing season, unless the weather pattern over the Eastern United States reverses in the next two to three weeks.

Drought Restrictions Eased, But Not For Most Of Atlanta.
Georgia is loosening water use restrictions in more than 80 counties as the drought has eased, but not for most metro Atlanta counties.
The drought has improved in much of Georgia over the past couple months, but it’s still affecting Lake Lanier and the Chattahoochee River.
So while the state is lifting outdoor water use rules in 86 counties, the restrictions are staying in place for 12 counties that rely on that water.
They are Cobb, Coweta, DeKalb, Douglas, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Habersham, Hall, Lumpkin, Paulding and White counties.
“Winter rains have brought needed relief to much of the state, but Lake Lanier, the Chattahoochee River and smaller streams in the region have been slow to recover,” Richard Dunn, director of Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division, said in an email.
In the latest report from the U.S. Drought Monitor, the northern edge of the state – including the area around the Chattahoochee River’s headwaters – is experiencing extreme drought conditions.
Even when there are no drought-related watering restrictions, Georgia limits outdoor watering.
It’s only ever allowed between 4 p.m. and 10 a.m. For the 12 counties still under a "Level 2" drought response, watering is restricted to those hours, and to two days a week.
Other prohibited activities are non-commercial car washes and hosing down streets, sidewalks, and ornamental fountains.

Another Drought?
Three months ago, the same map showed a large swath of the middle part of the state was clear of drought.
The good news is Oklahoma is heading into its rainy part of the year, said Gary McManus, state climatologist for the Oklahoma Mesonet.
The less good news is it is difficult to predict just how much moisture might be on the way.
“We’ve sort of set the stage if we don’t get normal to above normal rainfall, we could end up being in a bit of trouble, especially with the predictions from the Climate Prediction Center of warmer-than-normal weather over the next few months, at least increased odds of above-normal temperatures come into play.” Above-normal temperatures open the door to intensifying drought conditions, which means if that prediction proves accurate, Oklahoma will need even more rainfall.
A National Weather Service Fact Sheet describes drought as a deficiency in precipitation over an extended period of time, usually a season or more.
You’re already starting to see the impacts before you’re getting the notifications that something going on,” McManus said.
Do we need watering restrictions in place earlier?
If drought does visit the state once again, no worries.
“It’s things like that with everybody working together that helps conserve water.” For more information about drought and strategies and tips for managing this weather hazard, contact the county Extension office, visit the Oklahoma Mesonet (www.mesonet.org), check Oklahoma Water Resources Center at Oklahoma State University (www.water.okstate.edu) and connect with the National Weather Service (www.weather.gov).

Orange County Remains In Moderate Drought, NWS Says.
SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA — What a difference a few months make.
In September of 2016, the start of the water year, the National Weather Service said that the majority of California was in moderate to exceptional drought conditions.
Orange County, at that time, was listed from intensity ranging from Extreme Drought to Exceptional Drought.
Five months later, after one of the rainiest winters on record, the new drought monitor was released.
"With the recent heavy rains, Orange County remains classified in Moderate Drought," the NWS said.
Most of Riverside and San Diego counties were downgraded from Moderate Drought to Abnormally Dry, a substantial difference.
According to rainfall totals from the National Weather Service, a few notable totals in Orange County included Santa Ana, with just less than 16 inches of rain, and Fullerton, with just more than 16 inches of rain, both hovering at 159 percent of normal.
Anaheim, not far away, has received rainfall totaling 21.5-inches, hovering at 216 percent of normal.
"It has been a very wet rainy season in Southern California so far, with many stations receiving more than 150% of their normal precipitation through the end of February for the current ‘water year,’" The National Weather service reported.

New report: Just 9 percent of California still in drought.
One year ago, just 5 percent of California was classified as free from drought.
That number has been turned nearly upside down, and as of Thursday, 91 percent of the state is no longer in drought condition, according to federal scientists.
The latest findings of the U.S. Drought Monitor, a weekly study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, reports that 8.73 percent of California remains in drought conditions.
No areas of the state are classified as being in “extreme drought.” The study analyzes rainfall, reservoir levels, soil moisture, groundwater levels and other factors.
The percentage of the state that is in drought condition has been steadily decreasing this winter; last week, 17 percent of California was in drought condition.
Richard Heim, a meteorologist with NOAA and author of this week’s Drought Monitor report, wrote that drought improvement occurred in three regions: the San Joaquin Valley, the Coastal Range to Santa Barbara County and some counties in Southern California.
Heim noted that San Diego County recorded significant rain earlier this week, with more than 5 inches in some locations.
“The rain should result in rapid responses in local reservoirs,” Heim wrote, referring to San Diego County.
He added that the San Diego River reached 14.2 feet, which is the third highest stage ever, slightly higher than 2010 and 1980.

This spring in South Dakota is expected to be wet, and that’s good news for West River ranchers who have been dealing with drought conditions since early last growing season.
The latest climate outlook from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration predicts a wetter than average spring, especially in western and central South Dakota.
The types of grasses that cover the hills of western South Dakota rely on spring moisture, and April precipitation is important for pasture conditions and summer forage production, Edwards said.
Winter snows and spring rains are likely to put an end to drought conditions in the state.
Much of western South Dakota was listed under a moderate drought or abnormally dry conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor from mid-February.
“We are going to need that spring moisture.” The Cottonwood area east of Wall is especially in need of precipitation to help it recover from a fire that scorched more than 41,000 acres and killed cattle last October.
Snow cover has been sparse in eastern South Dakota this winter, but precipitation came as rain and is pretty much on track with average.
Soil moisture was above normal across the eastern two-thirds of the state, according to the National Weather Service.
In northern Iowa, there was 9-18 inches of frost in the ground by the end of February, which is below normal.
Some areas of southern Iowa have been frost-free all winter.

Latest Drought Monitor report shows parts of Kern County still ‘abnormally dry’.
The weekly Drought Monitor report issued this morning lists the Frazier Park area as abnormally dry.
Last week that region was still on the line between Moderate Drought and the ranking of Abnormally Dry.
The biggest headline this time last week was that most of the county, including Bakersfield, the Lake Isabella region, the Tehachapi Valley and even the desert cities of Mojave and Ridgecrest were removed from the drought ranking all together, meaning we have officially recovered from the drought.
So water restrictions will continue here in Kern County.
California has seen this remarkable improvement thanks to our unusually wet winter.
So how much rain did we get to provide that improvement?
Well here in Bakersfield our February rain total was officially 1.46 inches, just above our monthly average of 1.20”.
But we’ve actually collected 4.22” since January first, well above our average of 2.36”.
As for the water year, which began on October 1, we have collected 10.01” which is already way over our annual water year average of 6.47” and we still have until September 30 to add more to that total!

Rain and thunderstorms will frequent much of South America this autumn as wet weather occurs from Argentina to parts of Colombia and Venezuela.
Drought to improve in Colombia, Venezuela but worsen in northeastern Brazil The drought gripping Colombia and Venezuela will improve with a wet pattern continuing into autumn.
This includes helping to raise the water level at the Guri Dam, one of the largest water reservoirs on Earth.
While rain helps to improve the drought in Colombia and Venezuela, dry weather will cause drought conditions to worsen in Brazil.
Some rain is expected to move over these areas throughout the season; however, below-normal rainfall will cause the drought to persist and possibly worsen.
Rounds of rain, thunderstorms to slam Argentina to southern Brazil An active weather pattern is on tap for much of Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia and southern Brazil this season as waves of rain and thunderstorms move across the region.
“It seems like there will be an active weather pattern with no prolonged dry periods and near- to above-normal rainfall,” Miller said.
The threat for thunderstorms will be mainly early in the season before gradually tapering off as the fronts deliver steadier rain instead, AccuWeather Lead International Meteorologist Jason Nicholls said.
Most of Chile should see near-normal rainfall, but a few pockets could receive above-normal rainfall, Miller added.
Warm, dry weather is also on tap for southern Argentina and southern Peru.