SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Drought Monitor says a rainy fall has helped pull nearly one-fourth of California out of the state's five-year drought.
The showing is the best it's been for California since March 2013, according to the weekly national drought report.
On Thursday, 12 percent of the state had normal or better moisture and another 12 percent was rated unusually dry but not in drought.
The improvement comes thanks to a rainy October in Northern California, with rainfall three times or more the normal in parts of the north.
The drought spanned the driest four years on record in California, and for a time it forced mandatory water conservation for cities and towns.
Three-fourths of the state remains in drought, mostly in Central and Southern California.
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