Drought Picture Is a Bit Brighter : Outlook: Rain in north lifts levels to 60% of normal, up from 47% last week. East Sierra snowpack rises 13%.

The relentless stormy weather that brought death and devastation to the Southland on Wednesday caused comparatively modest miseries elsewhere in the state--and even inspired a smidgen of optimism among California’s professional drought-watchers.

Despite warnings of flash floods and dangerous mudslides, the storms’ toll north of Ventura and Kern counties was limited to scattered traffic wrecks, minor flooding and closed roads. A fresh storm hovering offshore, however, was expected to bring more rain and snow to Central and Northern California late Wednesday and today.

In Sacramento, state water officials reported that Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s rainfall in Northern California had lifted precipitation levels at key measuring stations to 60% of normal for this date--up from 47% of normal just a week ago.

There was improvement in another key indicator as well--the water content of the Sierra Nevada snowpack that delivers crucial spring runoff into the state’s reservoirs. On Monday, the statewide water content reading was at 41% of normal, but by Wednesday it had climbed to 50%.

In the Eastern Sierra, which supplies 70% of the water used in the city of Los Angeles in a typical year, the snowpack measurement increased by 13% over the reading taken Monday. It stands at 62% of the normal for this date, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said.

“I think there is quite a bit of good news here, so I’m feeling positive,” said Gary Hester, chief of forecasting for the state Department of Water Resources. “But I have to temper that with how far we still have to go. . . . This storm by itself has scarcely made a dent in our deficit.”

Hester said the state would need to receive twice the average amount of precipitation for the rest of the season to bring the runoff totals up to normal. Reservoirs are badly depleted from five consecutive dry years and the parched ground will soak up much of the water contained in the snow--thereby reducing runoff when the drifts melt this spring.

“The odds that we can avoid (a sixth critically dry year) are extremely slim,” Hester said, “but we’re certainly moving in the right direction.”

Runoff into the reservoirs that dot Northern California is the main source of water for most cities in Southern California and farms in the Central Valley.

The deluge of rain in Southern California this week is nice for lawns but cannot be collected for later use, and much of the rainfall has already flowed into the Pacific.

Although most Californians spent Wednesday tracking the storm’s punishing assault on Ventura and Los Angeles counties, there were small headaches to be coped with elsewhere in the state.

Minor rockslides closed one highway in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and a flash flood warning that expired early Wednesday was expected to be reinstated as additional rainfall elevated river levels in the rugged region.

“So far, it’s been boulders in the roads, fallen trees and run-of-the-mill things, but we’re gearing up for a big one,” said Marsha Stefoff, emergency center manager for Santa Cruz County. “We’ve got people out with cellular phones who will do spot checks on the rivers and watch for other trouble tonight.”

In the fire-denuded hills of Oakland and Berkeley, a mudslide warning was lifted when the skies cleared. But officials anxiously watched the forecasts, wondering whether their months of erosion-control work since the disastrous October wildfire would protect the vulnerable slopes.

“Those are steep hillsides, and there is the potential that mud and debris will crash into houses or vehicles below or block roads and escape routes,” Tom Mullins, a spokesman for the state Office of Emergency Services, said of the barren hills once covered with 3,000 homes.

Southland Rain Watch

REGION PRECIPITATION* 24-HOUR STORM TOTAL TOTAL L.A. BASIN Avalon/Catalina 1.66 3.61 Culver City NA NA Long Beach 1.54 3.37 L.A. Civic Center 1.92 6.52 L.A. Int’l Airport .64 3.24 Montebello 2.30 NA Santa Monica 1.44 4.04 Torrance 2.51 5.25 UCLA 2.63 7.96 VALLEYS/CANYONS Beaumont 1.45 3.55 Monrovia 2.76 7.74 Northridge 4.24 NA Pasadena NA NA San Gabriel 2.88 7.66 Santa Clarita 3.92 10.34 Woodland Hills 3.61 14.83 ORANGE COUNTY Anaheim 2.26 4.97 Newport Beach .92 4.38 Santa Ana 1.97 4.84 SAN DIEGO Oceanside .45 2.42 San Diego .02 1.69 MOUNTAINS Big Bear Lake .09 1.66 Mt. Wilson 2.89 17.40 DESERTS Victorville .00 NA Lancaster NA NA Palm Springs Trace NA SANTA BARBARA/VENTURA Santa Barbara 2.28 5.54 Ventura 2.07 7.80 SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY Bakersfield .65 1.05

* Measured over a 24-hour period ending at 4 p.m. Wednesday. NA indicates not available.

SOURCE: National Weather Service and Weather Data Inc.

Compiled by researcher Michael Meyers