The U.S. Drought Monitor, which publishes its colorful drought map every Thursday , this week is expected to show a slight decline in the dark brown parts of California suffering the most acutely from a drought that has parched the state four years in a row. It’s raining in California again this week, but 80 percent of the state is in an extreme drought, with over half in an exceptional drought. So it should come as no surprise that a series of recent storms dousing the state are a long way from ending a particularly long overall dry streak that recent research estimates is the most severe in 1,200 years. But any drop of rain provides some relief — along with the threat of mudslides and flash floods . Drought Monitor, Dec. 9, 2014 State reservoir levels are inching up. The Lake Oroville reservoir reached its low mark on […]