This month’s stormy weather may be reminding Californians of winters long past, back in the days before the state’s historic five-year drought took hold.
That was back in 2011, when reservoirs were full and lawn-watering rules weren’t front-page news. The animation below shows how the drought gripped the state soon after, as measured by weekly drought severity snapshots from the National Drought Mitigation Center.
Of course, today, the drought still isn’t over. While conditions in Northern California have improved quite a bit, Southern California is still facing an “exceptional” drought.