Flooding In Texas, Oklahoma Fueling Hope That California's Drought Will Soon End
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Years of extreme drought may be coming to an end in Texas and Oklahoma as heavy rains caused deadly flooding, and it's fueling hope that California's drought may soon come to an end as well.
Texas had faced severe drought conditions for the past five years.
"The headlines that you're writing today about Texas and Oklahoma, you could be writing about California in January," NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Bill Patzert told the LA Times.
READ MORE: Complete Drought Coverage
Climate experts say El Nino is growing stronger and could bring drought-busting wet weather to California.
"A weak to moderate El Nino is already present in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, and that means an increased likelihood of an above-average hurricane season in the Eastern Pacific, a below-average hurricane season in the Atlantic, and above-average rainfall continuing in Texas. Many long-range computer forecast models increase the strength of this El Nino later this summer and fall, with some models calling for a 'strong' El Nino this winter. That historically has greatly increased the chance of above-average rainfall for drought-stricken California," KPIX 5 Meteorologist Paul Deanno said.