Robert Hopwood

The Desert Sun

It's amazing what a lot of rain can do.

The low pressure system that swept through California last weekend brought much needed moisture to the state. As a result, drought conditions have improved in several northern counties, according to the weekly U.S. Drought Monitor.

"Weekly rainfall totals for northern California top out at 2.3 inches," Matthew Rosencrans of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration wrote in this week's drought report.

There was improvement in stream flows while plants and grasses turned green in some areas of Northern California. Unfortunately, the storms didn't bring enough moisture to recharge the drier, deeper soil.

During the past two months, Northern California has been wetter than normal. Del Norte, Siskiyou, Humboldt, Trinity and Northern Shasta counties have recorded up to 250 percent of their normal precipitation during September and October, according to the Drought Monitor.

The above normal moisture ends in Mendocino County, which is located along the state's northern coast. Northern Mendocino County reported near normal precipitation in October, while southern areas of the county reported below normal rainfall.

While drought conditions have improved in some areas of the state, California is still gripped by one of the worst droughts in its history. California will need many more storms and weeks of above normal rainfall to end the drought.

More wet weather is expected in the Pacific Northwest through Nov. 10. After that, below normal precipitation is expected across most of the West through Nov. 15.