California Drought, Wildfire Risks Grow as Snow Falls Short
The downtown skyline beneath the snow-capped San Gabriel Mountains in Los Angeles, California, on Feb. 23.
Photographer: Mario Tama/Getty ImagesCalifornia is heading into its dry season with just a fraction of the snow it typically has across its highest peaks at the end of its winter months, raising the prospects of drought across the most populous US state.
Statewide, California has just 18% of the snow a normal winter would bring to its mountains, according to the Department of Water Resources. The hardest-hit areas are in the northern Sierra Nevada range where just 6% of the normal snow was recorded, followed by the central region with 21% and southern region with 32%.