More than half of California is experiencing abnormally dry conditions or worse, according to a new report, as months without precipitation as well as evaporation caused by summer heat waves take their toll. That includes parts of the Central Valley, which are back in abnormally dry conditions for the first time since April 2023, according to the National Weather Service’s Hanford branch. … Abnormally dry conditions are not formally classified as drought, though they are a precursor. Eight percent of California — particularly in Modoc and Lassen counties in the north and San Bernardino in the south — is experiencing moderate drought, the mildest drought classification.

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