Late-season snowfall helps California in dry winter, drought

SODA SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) — Heavy snow in Northern California has given a recent boost of water to a region grappling with drought. The Central Sierra Snow Lab at the University of California, Berkeley said Friday that more than 16 inches of snow fell in the past day. The spring storm triggered warnings from the Oregon border down through the southern Cascades and the northern Sierra Nevada. But the late-season precipitation was welcome after a dry winter. Winter was a no-show from January through March in California. An update Thursday by the U.S. Drought Monitor showed wide swaths of the state in extreme or severe drought, but the report noted recent weeks of beneficial moisture.