A conveyor belt of strong Pacific storms brought enough rain and snow to California early this winter to knock out drought conditions in the northern part of the state, according to this week's U.S. Drought Monitor report. The U.S. Drought Monitor’s weekly analysis, released on Thursday, shows only 2 percent of the state remains in the most extreme category, “exceptional drought,” down from nearly 43 percent a year ago. Parts of California remain in a fifth consecutive year of drought conditions, but the report cited major improvements for the state's water reservoirs and the critical snowpack in the Sierra Nevada range.
An estimated 180,000 alpacas are dead due to frigid temperatures and drought in Peru.