Despite wet weather, one corner of California remains ‘abnormally dry’

(FOX40.COM) — Despite a winter storm that has brought days of snow and rain to the region, one northern California county is still “abnormally dry.”

Most of Del Norte County — located in the far northwest corner of the state — faces a drought intensity of D0, according to a new report from the U.S. Drought Monitor. That category denotes abnormally dry areas that could be entering or recovering from drought.

The dry patch also covers small segments of neighboring Humboldt and Siskiyou counties.

“After a few warm and dry weeks, heavy precipitation returned to the West Coast states this past week,” the Drought Monitor report said. “The heaviest amounts fell on California, which is almost completely free of dryness and drought.”

At least 1.5 inches of precipitation fell on a large part of the state, with significantly larger amounts falling on higher-elevation areas like the Sierra Nevada.

Despite the snowfall — which has reached as high as eight feet in some parts of the Sierra Nevada — the Drought Monitor warned that “the snowpack in this area remains significantly below normal.”

“The heaviest precipitation over the next few days is forecast along and near part of the West Coast, with at least two inches expected across northwestern California, the southern Cascades and the central and northern Sierra Nevada,” the report stated.

Early this year, California was declared officially drought-free for the first time since 2000.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40 News.