(NEW YORK) — “Extreme” drought has been completely eliminated in California for the first time in nearly three years, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

While the drastic change for California has happened over the last few weeks, the most recent batch of rain has completely eliminated the “extreme” drought category.

This is the first time since April 2020 that there has been no “extreme” drought in California.

While drought in the western U.S. continues to improve overall, the Colorado River Basin lags behind the Sierra Nevadas in terms of recovery.

It will take several seasons such as this one to help eliminate the drought in the area, which includes reservoirs Lake Mead and Lake Powell.

The National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center recently released top totals from the parade of storms that moved into California from Dec. 26 through Jan. 17. The top snow total was 240 inches in Mammoth Mountain and near Honeydew, California, nearly 4 feet of rain fell (47.7 inches).

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