The Bay Area is in the midst of one of its wettest Januarys in the past 15 years, including record rainfall in Santa Rosa, and more is on the way. After the first in a series of storms soaked the Bay Area on Wednesday into Thursday morning, drenching Santa Rosa with more than 3 inches of rain, two more systems are taking aim at the region. The next soaking was expected to begin late Thursday night and deliver rainfall totals ranging from a half-inch to 1 inch to most Bay Area cities, said Bob Benjamin, a forecaster with the National Weather Service.

With major reservoirs nearly full, the Sierra Nevada snowpack well above average and flood warnings in place for some rivers, federal scientists reported Thursday a continued weakening of California’s drought. Overall, 44 percent of the state remains in severe drought conditions or worse, down from 49 percent a week ago, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a weekly study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The improved area, roughly 5.1 million acres, is mostly in the central Sierra Nevada, which has been hit with major snowstorms in recent weeks.

Amid what’s shaping up to be one of California’s wettest winters on record, the State Water Project on Jan. 18 upped its anticipated deliveries to at least 60 percent of requested supplies. The boost from 45 percent is the Department of Water Resources’ second allocation increase in less than a month, and it comes as many of its gauges in the Central Valley have recorded twice the normal rainfall for this time of year.