California Drought's End: Earth Image of the Week

A broad range of landscapes and climates can be seen in this image from the beaches of the Pacific to the desolate high deserts of Nevada.

The lush landscape that has emerged across a broad swath of California in recent weeks attests to a season of ample rain and snow, which has significantly alleviated a near-record drought.

When NASA’s Terra satellite passed over the region on Saturday, March 13, 2010, verdant fields could be seen over low elevations while the Sierra Nevada mountain range was blanketed in deep snow.

Valleys and hillsides that are a straw brown color during the dry, Mediterranean-like summer months are now a deep shade of emerald.

The darker greens in the satellite image to the right are areas of conifer forests.

Areas of light brown or gray show urban sprawl or fallow farmlands that will soon provide a bounty that helps feed the world. Metropolitan areas around San Francisco Bay, Sacramento, Stockton and Fresno show up clearly against their darker surroundings.

Despite the series of winter storms that dumped many inches of rainfall across California since the El NIño influence arrived late last year, the state’s crippling drought is not entirely gone.

Latest figures from the state’s Department of Water Resources show that many reservoirs contain only between 50 and 80 percent of their normal historical storage. But, most reservoirs around the San Francisco Bay Area are full, according to area meteorologist Mike Pechner.

Image: NASA MODIS Rapid Response System