It’s a rare site to see the U.S. Drought Monitor Map show California without a drought, or even abnormally dry conditions. That hasn’t happened for a quarter-century. … State Climatologist Michael Anderson said the state doesn’t use the U.S. Drought Monitor as an “indicator, and it’s not an official drought-free declaration.” … “As we’ve seen in past years, California can go quickly from wet to dry conditions, and we are expecting dry conditions to return through the rest of January. This will have an impact on statewide rain and snowfall averages, which are expected to decrease,” Anderson said.

Other drought and snowpack news around the West:

• Courthouse News Service: Arizona drought persists despite heavy Phoenix rainfall 
• KSL (Salt Lake City, Utah): Utah’s snowpack season has already been ‘very strange.’ Here’s how this week helped
• This Is Reno (Nev.): Warm early winter leaves Nevada snowpack below normal despite heavy precipitation
• Pasadena Now (Calif.): As California’s drought ends, Pasadena weighs future of its underground water reserve