Weather

The tracks of the Pineapple Express, a nickname for a band of warm, wet Pacific air, are tracing over Northern California, where residents are expected to be soaked with rain through early next week.

As the California drought enters its fourth year, scientists are trying to genetically engineer plants that survive on less water.

For the first time in seven months of state monitoring, Californians surpassed Gov. Jerry Brown’s water-conservation goal, reducing water use by more than 20% in December 2014 compared to the same month the year before.  

Santa Barbara County water agencies announced Friday that they will receive $2 million in state funding for a pumping project at Cachuma Lake -- a source of drinking water for 220,000 people on the southern central coast -- where water levels have dropped precipitously low.

Drought, fire-suppression techniques and changes in land use have made California forests denser with smaller trees and more susceptible to fast-moving wildfires, a study to be released Tuesday has found.