As California’s remaining dry patches shrink, weather experts warn that sweltering heat could slow progress.
California is completely drought-free, with “abnormally dry” patches isolated in the state’s desert region, according to a Thursday update from the U.S. Drought Monitor.
The weekly drought map shows drought intensities across the country.
California’s weather patterns tend to be drier between May and early June compared to other months, researchers wrote in a weekly national drought summary for explanations of the forecasts.
In total, 1.2% of the state is abnormally dry, down nearly 1.5% from a month earlier.
The list includes San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
California has high temperatures and risks of wildfires
A heat dome caused temperatures to soar into the triple digits across California this week, with highs ranging from 95 to 108 degrees in much of the Sacramento Valley.
The National Weather Service has issued an extreme heat warning for the northeastern Sierra foothills and Central Valley — including Sacramento, Modesto and Fresno — that will remain in effect until 8 p.m. Thursday.
In Northern California, warm winds and warm weather have created ideal conditions for wildfires as vegetation and other fuels begin to dry out for the season.
Last weekend there was the first major fire of the year in the region. The Corral Fire had burned more than 40,000 acres near Tracy on Monday.
Smaller fires have spread throughout the area.
What is California’s drought status?
California was drought-free as of Thursday, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
No one in the state has been living in drought conditions since November, a significant drop from 3,000 people in October and about 9,800 people a month earlier.
In August, approximately 903,000 California residents were in drought areas.
Since October, the state has had no “moderate,” “severe,” “extreme” and “exceptional” drought conditions.
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