Winter storms wash away California drought, enlarge snowpack

LOS ANGELES (AP) — California is drenched and its mountains are piled high with snow amid a still-unfolding winter of storms that was unimaginable just a few months ago.
The U.S. Drought Monitor reports Thursday that more than 87 percent of California is free of drought conditions or unusual dryness and just over 2 percent remains in the drought category.
State water resources officials say the vital Sierra Nevada snowpack is now at 153 percent of average to date.
A measurement taken Thurs