In the Western U.S., the Next Drought Is Always Around the Corner

In California, El Niño’s January storms left above-average snowpack in the mountains and rising reservoir levels across the state. Could the end of the five-year drought be in sight? Alan Haynes, a hydrologist for the National Weather Service in Sacramento, told the L.A. Times in late January, “If storms continue and we keep getting wet into the spring, like we’re projecting because of the El Niño ... we have a good shot[.]”