Sierra Nevada

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- More than 40 percent of California is out of drought, federal drought-watchers said Thursday at the end of storms that sent thousands of people fleeing from flooding rivers in the north and doubled the vital snowpack in the Sierra Nevada in little more than a week.

RENO, Nev. (AP) -- A massive winter storm that could be the biggest to slam the region in more than a decade prompted the evacuation of hundreds of homes in northern Nevada and triggered flooding and mudslides that blocked major highways and stranded motorists in Northern California.