Team USA finished second in the overall Paralympics medal count, after 10 days of competition in which American athletes made dazzling debuts, defended titles and cemented legacies.
Why it matters: China topped the medal count for the second Winter Games in a row, with 44 total medals (15 gold), followed by the U.S. with 24 total medals, including 13 gold. The U.S. improved on its fifth-place standing from 2022. This is the same number of gold medals it won in 2018, in what officials are calling its "strongest gold-medal showing in the last 20 years."
More details: A total of 28 American Paralympians and two guides reached the podium this year. Six of them won medals for the first time, and six of them earned multiple medals, according to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC).
Read on... for more about the highlights from Team USA.
Team USA finished second in the overall Paralympics medal count, after 10 days of competition in which American athletes made dazzling debuts, defended titles and cemented legacies.
One of the many made-for-TV moments came just hours before the closing ceremony on Sunday, when the U.S. sled hockey team defeated rival Canada to claim its record fifth gold medal in a row.
"You don't ever start out and try to be the only five-time gold medalist in the sport," said captain Josh Pauls after personally achieving that very feat. "But to be with these guys, to lead them and kind of pass on that tradition, it's the ultimate honor."
The day — and the Games — ended with the closing ceremony in Cortina d'Ampezzo, featuring performances, speeches and the extinguishing of the Paralympic flame. American skiers Kendall Gretsch and Andrew Kurka, who are both leaving Italy with new medals, carried the flag for Team USA.
"I've been involved in four Games and have only been able to go to two closing ceremonies: in PyeongChang, where I won my gold and silver, and this year, where I won my bronze," said Kurka, who medaled in men's super-G. "It's been a career filled with ups and downs, but even the small victories count for me."
Andrew Kurka and Kendall Gretsch carry the U.S. flag during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympic Games closing ceremony in Cortina on Sunday.
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At the ceremony, International Paralympic Committee (IPC) President Andrew Parsons declared the Games — the 50th anniversary of the Winter Paralympics — officially over, and a success: "The biggest and most beautiful Winter Paralympics with more athletes, more nations, more women and more global broadcast and digital coverage than ever before."
A record 611 athletes from 55 countries competed in 79 medal events across six sports.
China topped the medal count for the second Winter Games in a row, with 44 total medals (15 gold), followed by the U.S. with 24 total medals, including 13 gold. The U.S. improved on its fifth-place standing from 2022. This is the same number of gold medals it won in 2018, in what officials are calling its "strongest gold-medal showing in the last 20 years."
A total of 28 American Paralympians and two guides reached the podium this year. Six of them won medals for the first time, and six of them earned multiple medals, according to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC).
In third place — both overall and in gold medals — was Russia, which was allowed to participate under its own flag for the first time since 2014 despite its ongoing war in Ukraine. Ukrainian athletes boycotted both the opening and closing ceremonies in protest.
But even in a moment of intense geopolitical upheaval, amid conflicts in Europe and the Middle East, the IPC's Parsons said the Paralympics offered "proof that sport can unite us through respect, fairness and human achievement."
"Paralympians, you rose above pressure, expectation and global tension to keep the focus where it belongs: on you and your sport," he said. "You expanded the imagination of the world. You have shown that excellence is universal and that determination knows no boundaries."
Parsons passed the proverbial torch to the next Winter Paralympics host: the French Alps for 2030. Those will follow the 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Los Angeles.
Team USA highlights
Team USA's Declan Farmer, center, fights for the puck during the gold-medal match against Canada.
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On the ice:
The U.S. sled hockey team got off to a strong start in an early-round match against Italy, when it beat the host nation 14-1 — the largest margin of victory in the sport's U.S. history.
It stayed dominant, outscoring opponents 46-6 throughout the tournament before becoming the first Paralympic or Olympic team to win five consecutive winter gold medals.
"You are going to enjoy something like this, for sure," Coach David Hoff said afterward. "But I don't know if it's just the wins. It's so much more than that. They just love playing together."
Team USA beat Canada 6-2 on Sunday, thanks to a hat trick from Jack Wallace — who was named "best defender" of the tournament — and goals by Kayden Beasley, Brody Roybal and four-time Paralympian Declan Farmer.
Farmer, the top scorer and official MVP of these Games, scored 15 goals and 26 points throughout the tournament to become the all-time leading scorer in Paralympic sled hockey history at just 28 years old. But he was quick to share the credit with his teammates.
"A lot of the guys stepped up and had their best games of the tournament, and we just carried each other," said Farmer. "I'm just so happy for the guys, we earned it together."
You're forgiven if you have deja vu from last month: This win makes the U.S. the first country to sweep all three Olympic and Paralympic hockey tournaments in one year.
Team USA also made history in wheelchair curling, with Steve Emt and Laura Dwyer finishing fourth in the brand-new mixed doubles event. That's the United States' best-ever Paralympic finish in the sport.
"In the two years we've been together, we've shown the world what we're capable of doing and we're going to go home, take some time off, relax, re-group and come back even better next year," said Emt, the most decorated Paralympic curler in U.S. history.
In Para Nordic Skiing (cross country and biathlon):
Oksana Masters competes in the para cross-country skiing 20km in Tesero, Italy, on Sunday.
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Eight-time, dual-season Paralympian Oksana Masters, the most decorated Winter Paralympian in U.S. history, is leaving Italy with four new gold medals and a bronze in biathlon and cross-country skiing events, bringing her career total to 24 medals.
That's despite a concussion, infection and injury that almost kept her from competing in the first place.
"I think that is what makes it so special, because nothing is guaranteed," Masters told NPR on Saturday. "A win's not guaranteed, and the podium's not guaranteed, and so that's been a really great motivator for this whole … year so far."
Four-time Paralympian Jake Adicoff, with guides Reid Goble and Peter Wolter, won four gold medals in four visually impaired skiing events to set a new record for the most Para cross-country golds won by a Team USA athlete in a single Games.
Joshua Sweeney, Oksana Masters, Sydney Peterson, Jake Adicoff and his guide Reid Goble of Team USA participate in the medal ceremony after the para cross-country skiing mixed 4x2.5km relay.
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"It's incredibly scary to put a high goal out to the public," the 30-year-old said. "I was doubting it so much this week, I didn't know what was going to happen, but the races came together and I'm just overjoyed."
One of those was the mixed 4x2.5km relay, where the all-star team of Adicoff, Masters, Josh Sweeney and Sydney Peterson came from behind in the final leg to defend the U.S. title.
Peterson, competing in her second Paralympics, won four medals — three of them gold — this time around.
And Kendall Gretsch, closing ceremony flag-bearer, won four medals at her third Winter Paralympics (and fifth total): one gold, one silver and two bronze. That brings her total medal count to 11 across Summer and Winter Games.
In Alpine skiing:
Andrew Kurka competes in the super-G leg of the para Alpine skiing men's combined.
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Andrew Kurka won bronze in the men's super-G sitting, adding to his silver and gold from 2018.
"I'm happy to be here. I'm happy to have a great career. Gold, silver, and bronze, happy to be done," said Kurka, who wrote on Instagram after the closing ceremony that he is stepping back from ski racing to deal with injuries.
In 2022, he competed with a broken nose, thumb and humerus bone, finishing fourth in the sitting downhill event before withdrawing from the rest of competition. Kurka said in Italy that he's broken over 20 bones in his career.
"When it comes to it, losing is nothing compared to the pain of failure," he said after winning bronze. "And when it comes down to today, I was just happy to get across that finish line without any injuries and in a relatively quick time. Usually, if I cross the finish line, it's pretty fast."
Meanwhile, Patrick Halgren won silver in the men's super-G standing event — the first for Team USA since 1998.
Patrick Halgren celebrates after winning a silver medal in the alpine skiing men's super-G standing on Monday.
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The 33-year-old wasn't necessarily a favorite for the podium, having placed 26th and 24th at his events in the Beijing Paralympics. But Halgren said he felt the presence of his late twin brother Sven — his source of encouragement to try para Alpine skiing — who died in a motorcycle accident in 2016. Halgren himself lost most of his left leg, and nearly his life, in a motorcycle accident three years earlier.
Halgren, who wowed the internet with his winning performance and rock-star persona, dedicated his win to Sven and called it the "best day of my life until tomorrow."
"You celebrate the victories the same as the defeats," he added. "I've been blessed to have to develop my character over the last 11 years, losing my leg, and could either roll over and die, or I could become the greatest Patrick Halgren on Earth, and that's what you're seeing."
In snowboarding:
Kate Delson, center, and Brenna Huckaby, right, of Team U.S. pose for a photo on the podium during the medal ceremony for the para snowboard banked slalom.
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Three-time Paralympian Brenna Huckaby leaves Italy as the most decorated Paralympic snowboarder in history.
She won bronze in the women's banked slalom event — which she dominated in 2022 — to bring her career total to five medals. That came days after she finished sixth in the snowboard cross event, which she still saw as a win.
"I'm here representing a very small portion of people who want to see themselves represented," Huckaby said. "They want to know that if they lose their leg above the knee, life does not end. I accomplished that here simply by being. So I'm happy."
First-time Paralympian Kate Delson medaled in both of those events, winning gold in the banked slalom and silver in snowboard cross.
"I was just stoked to be here, I think it's such a fun course," Delson said after. "I got to get a medal with my teammate, [Huckaby], one of my best friends in the world, that's unreal."
On the men's side, Noah Elliott won gold in the banked slalom, a repeat of 2018, and silver in snowboard cross to double his career medal count.
Mike Schultz brought home a bronze medal in his final Paralympics, for which he outfitted many athletes with their prosthetics.
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And Mike Schultz earned his fourth career medal — bronze in banked slalom — at the last race of his third and final Paralympics.
"To finish my last run and bring home a bronze medal, that's storybook stuff there," Schultz said in an emotional Instagram video after watching a compilation of congratulatory messages from his U.S. snowboarding teammates, whom he called his family.
All the while, the 44-year-old outfitted many para athletes — including some who beat him — with high-performance prosthetics, a business he has run for over a decade, which he plans to pursue in retirement.
Copyright 2026 NPR
CBS News said Friday it will shut down its storied radio news service after nearly 100 years of operation, ending an era and blaming challenging economic times as the world moves on to digital sources and podcasts.
CBS Radio history: When it went on the air in September 1927, the service was the precursor to the entire network, giving a youthful William S. Paley a start in the business. Famed broadcaster Edward R. Murrow's rooftop reports during the Nazi bombing of London during World War II kept Americans listening anxiously.
Today, CBS News Radio provides material to an estimated 700 stations across the country and is known best for its top-of-the-hour news roundups. The service will end on May 22, the network said Friday.
Cuts are part of larger layoff: It was unclear how many people will lose their jobs because of the radio shutdown. CBS News was cutting about 6% of its workforce, or more than 60 people, on Friday. It's not the end of turmoil at the network, as parent company Paramount Global is likely to absorb CNN as part of its announced purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery.
NEW YORK — CBS News said Friday it will shut down its storied radio news service after nearly 100 years of operation, ending an era and blaming challenging economic times as the world moves on to digital sources and podcasts. Said longtime CBS News anchor Dan Rather: "It's another piece of America that is gone."
When it went on the air in September 1927, the service was the precursor to the entire network, giving a youthful William S. Paley a start in the business. Famed broadcaster Edward R. Murrow's rooftop reports during the Nazi bombing of London during World War II kept Americans listening anxiously.
Today, CBS News Radio provides material to an estimated 700 stations across the country and is known best for its top-of-the-hour news roundups. The service will end on May 22, the network said Friday.
The CBS Broadcast Center on 57th Street in New York on April 20, 2023.
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"Radio is woven into the fabric of CBS News and that's always going to be part of our history," CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss said in delivering the news to the staff. "I want you to know that we did everything we could, including before I joined the company, to try and find a viable solution to sustain the radio operation."
But with the radical changes in the media industry, she said, "we just could not find a way to make that possible."
Not the first radio cuts at CBS
CBS News cut some of its radio programming late last year, including its "Weekend Roundup" and "World News Roundup Late Edition," in an attempt to keep the service going.
It was unclear how many people will lose their jobs because of the radio shutdown. CBS News was cutting about 6% of its workforce, or more than 60 people, on Friday. It's not the end of turmoil at the network, as parent company Paramount Global is likely to absorb CNN as part of its announced purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery.
"Given the way things are going, I was saddened but I wasn't surprised by it," said Rather, who succeeded network legend Walter Cronkite in 1981 and anchored for 25 years.
When Rather covered the civil rights era for CBS News during the 1960s, he said he would file reports as frequently as a dozen times a day. Cronkite told America on television that President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated; Rather relayed the news for radio.
"Radio was considered an equal responsibility to television," Rather, now 94, said in an interview.
Along with newspapers, radio was the dominant medium in how Americans got their news from shortly after the dawn of commercial radio in 1920 through the 1940s, with people in their living rooms listening to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "Fireside Chats" during the Depression. CBS News Radio's broadcast about Germany's invasion of Austria in 1938, the first time Murrow was heard on the air, was an historic marker for the service.
Edward R. Murrow, a CBS correspondent who made his name from the front lines of World War II and from confronting Sen. Joseph McCarthy during the 1950s Red Scare, during a speaking engagement.
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Broadcasters like Douglas Edwards, Dallas Townsend and Christopher Glenn were familiar voices on CBS News Radio. The beginning of the television era in the 1950s began a long slide for radio, often an afterthought today with the world online and on phones. Those seeking audio often turn to podcasts before radio.
"This is another part of the landscape that has fallen off into the sea," said Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers, a trade publication for radio talk shows. "It's a shame. It's a loss for the country and for the industry."
A major radio player for many decades
CBS News Radio was a major force for generations of Americans. "Its heyday spanned decades," Harrison said. "It was quality on every level. It sounded good. Its coverage was as objective as possible within the realm of human nature. Its resources were extensive. It had a very high trust factor that was considered the standard of the day."
The front page of CBS News' website did not immediately carry news of the demise.
Weiss, founder of the Free Press website and without broadcast news experience before being hired by CBS parent Paramount's new management, has quickly become a headline-maker and polarizing figure in journalism. She held a "60 Minutes" story critical of President Donald Trump's deportation policy from being broadcast for a month and has critics watching to see if she's moving the network in a Trump-friendly direction.
Addressing her staff in January, three months into her job as CBS News boss, she invoked Cronkite's name as a symbol of old thinking and said that if the network continues with its current strategy, "we're toast." She announced the hiring of 18 new contributors and said CBS News needs to do stories that will "surprise and provoke — including inside our own newsroom."
Copyright 2026 NPR
Cato Hernández
covers important issues that affect the everyday lives of Southern Californians.
Published March 20, 2026 4:34 PM
Prices for gas at an Exxon gas station.
Topline:
Gas prices are draining wallets right now. The spike is hitting Southern California especially hard, so how can you save money at the pump? We looked into it.
Why now: Gas prices are rising because of the U.S.’s war in Iran, but our state is feeling it more than others. California’s switch to the summer blend of gas is here, which is more expensive to make, and we’ve got those high gas taxes.
Avoid expensive gas: You can save by avoiding convenience. Stations in busy areas, like downtowns or by freeways, like to charge more. Even the layout and positioning on the street corner can impact the price.
Make your tank last: Caring for your car in between fill-ups is another to cut down your costs. That can look like keeping your tires properly inflated and making sure the trunk isn’t too heavy.
Read on … to see where to find top 10 lists for cheap gas near you.
Drivers know it really, really sucks to get gas right now.
California is (unfortunately) leading the nation in this gas surge, according to the American Automobile Association, which tracks fuel price trends.
And with prices in Southern California hovering around $5.75 (and beyond) — just for regular-grade fuel — it can feel like almost every station is trying to compete for the most notoriously priced gas.
What gives? And more importantly, how can you save on gas right now? We looked into it.
Why is our gas so expensive?
Prices at the pump have been skyrocketing since the start of the U.S. war in Iran last month because oil shipments are being bottlenecked along the Strait of Hormuz, a key supply route in the Middle East.
California feels this pain especially hard as the state imports a decent chunk of its oil from the region. Plus, that’s happening at the same time the state is doing its annual switch to the summer blend of fuel. So both of those things, coupled with our high gas tax, means the spike hits us hard.
If you zero in more to hubs like Los Angeles and Orange County, it gets worse. Kandace Redd, a spokesperson for AAA, said that’s tied to gas stations’ higher rent, wages and operating costs.
“That is often passed on to the drivers,” she said. “ So simply put, the higher the cost of living, the higher the price you’re likely to pay at the pump.”
Some relief could be on the way, but it’s unclear when that could happen.
How to save at the pump
Don’t wait to fill up
During normal times, one subtle way you could save would be to fill up on certain days of the week. This is because California is one of the states that shows a predictable pattern at the pump, called price-cycling.
According to a GasBuddy study that analyzed weekly price changes, they found that the best day to get gas in California was Sunday, and the worst Tuesday. But that’s when things are relatively stable.
“During periods of rapidly rising prices … prices tend to keep increasing, not decrease, so filling up sooner is often best,” Redd said.
So if you know you need gas, don’t try waiting a few days for prices to drop until the situation changes. L.A.’s average gas price jumped 30 cents over the last week.
If you have a AAA membership, the mobile app also shows cheap gas nearby.
Avoid stations in certain areas
If you want to pay less, stay away from stations in popular areas, like airports, tourist hubs or freeways. Neighborhoods with fewer gas stations can cost you more money, so finding a place that’s ripe with competition can also be better for your wallet.
Even position on the street corner matters. Redd said gas stations can charge more when they’re on a side with heavier traffic or when they’re more accessible.
“ Stations that are easier for drivers to enter, fill up and exit often attract more customers and may even charge a little bit more than that,” she said.
Stretch your gas tank by taking care of your car
You can save on gas beyond the pump, Redd said, by managing how your car is using fuel. For example, combining your trips or avoiding stop-and-go traffic times can cut down on consumption. It’s all about how you care for and use your car:
Reduce your load. That means clear out that trunk and take off that top rack when it’s not in use. When your car is heavier, it burns fuel faster to account for the load.
Maintain your vehicle. If you can afford it, keep the check engine light off and your tires properly inflated. This can help make sure you're using gas at your car’s intended rate. Underinflated tires are more resistant to movement, which can reduce the miles per gallon you get.
Watch your speed. Your car uses more gas at higher speeds, so you really want to be sure to also avoid any sort of hard acceleration. If your car has an economy mode, that could also help by making your car run more efficiently.
Turn off your engine when your car is parked or stopped for a long period of time. Blasting the air conditioning can also impact gas usage, though it’s a smaller margin.
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An aerial view of Lake Shasta and the dam in Shasta County, on May 9, 2024. On this date, the reservoir storage was 4,380,600 acre-feet (AF), 96% of the total capacity.
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Topline:
A record-baking heat wave is scalding California, with major consequences for the state’s most important reservoir: its snowpack. Providing about a third of the state’s water supply, the Sierra Nevada snowpack is a vital source of spring and summer runoff that refills reservoirs when the state needs the water most.
Why it matters: A warm wet storm followed February’s snow, and now, March temperatures are shattering records — prompting warnings of rapid snowmelt and swift rivers. Historically, the snowpack is at its deepest in April. But climate change is shifting runoff earlier, leaving less water trickling down the mountains in warmer months for homes, farms, fish, hydropower and forests. This year’s snowpack is rapidly approaching the worst five on record for April 1st, state climatologist Michael Anderson said — and it’s likely to worsen still as temperatures climb. From early to mid-March, the snowpack has been disappearing at a rate of roughly 1% per day.
Smaller snowpack leaves a gap: Even as California suffers record heat and early snowmelt, the state is better prepared than in the past. Major reservoirs are already above historic averages, and early season storms soaked the soil beneath the snowpack, making it less likely to swallow the runoff. But the season’s early melt may still leave a gap. “It's going to get us through this year just fine,” Johnson said. “But it's not as ideal as having that additional snow reservoir ready to run off through summer, and replenish what we're going to be releasing.”
A record-baking heat wave is scalding California, with major consequences for the state’s most important reservoir: its snowpack.
Providing about a third of the state’s water supply, the Sierra Nevada snowpack is a vital source of spring and summer runoff that refills reservoirs when the state needs the water most.
But a warm wet storm followed February’s snow, and now, March temperatures are shattering records — prompting warnings of rapid snowmelt and swift rivers.
“In an ideal world, you'd have your reservoir full right now, and this additional huge snowpack reservoir that we know will help replenish and provide more water supply,” said Levi Johnson, operations manager for the Central Valley Project, the massive federal water system that funnels northern California river water to the Central Valley and parts of the Bay Area.
This year, he said, “we're not going to have that.”
It’s not yet the worst snowpack on record: that distinction belongs to 2015, when then-Gov. Jerry Brown stood on brown, barren slopes of the Sierra Nevada to watch scientists measure the most meager snowpack in history.
But this year’s snowpack is rapidly approaching the worst five on record for April 1st, state climatologist Michael Anderson said — and it’s likely to worsen still as temperatures climb. From early to mid-March, the snowpack has been disappearing at a rate of roughly 1% per day.
It’s a sharp departure from the near-average conditions of last year, and presents both a challenge and a glimpse of the future for reservoir operators in the state.
Conflicting roles for reservoirs
Many of California’s reservoirs serve a dual role: stoppering flood flows and storing water for drier times ahead.
Those roles sometimes conflict — as they did at Lake Mendocino, which dried to a mud puddle during the 2012–16 drought. Rigid federal operating rules forced the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to release vital water supplies from the dam to make room for winter floods that didn’t come.
The dire water shortages that followed spurred an experimental partnership called Forecast Informed Reservoir Operations, between the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego’s Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes and state, federal and local agencies.
The program incorporates advanced forecasting and weather observations into reservoir release decisions at Lake Mendocino. It prevented the reservoir from going dry during the most recent drought, according to Don Seymour, deputy director of engineering at Sonoma Water, which co-manages the reservoir.
Now, 165 miles away in the Sierra Foothills, Yuba Water Agency is eyeing adopting the same program for New Bullards Bar, a reservoir roughly eight times bigger than Lake Mendocino that’s fed by Sierra snowmelt on the North Yuba River.
The reservoir supplies water to more than 60,000 acres of farmland in Yuba County as well as users south of the Delta. But early snowmelt is complicating efforts to store that water.
“We're seeing snowmelt conditions in mid-March that we normally don't see until at least mid-May,” said general manager Willie Whittlesey. “It's pretty obvious that this is the runoff — this is the snowmelt — and it's just happening about two months early.”
But when snowmelt arrives early, the agency can’t catch it once the reservoir reaches a certain level — even when no storms are in the immediate forecast. Federal rules require Yuba Water to maintain a certain amount of empty space until June to absorb potential floodwaters, according to Whittlesey.
Yuba Water is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to update this decades-old rulebook, Whittlesey said, but until then it must request special permission to store the extra water.
Though the agency has received permission in the past, this year it’s also contending with a rupture in a major pipe to one of its hydropower facilities, which is forcing the agency to hold back more water behind the dam.
Whittlesey said he suspects that the combination of flood-control requirements and damage control after the pipe failure is likely costing them tens of thousands of acre-feet of snowmelt.
The California Department of Water Resources, which manages Lake Oroville — the state’s second-largest reservoir — told CalMatters that it’s storing water beyond its normal flood control limits, with permission from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
In the Bay Area, the East Bay Municipal Utility District, California’s second-largest urban water supplier, owns and operates the Camanche and Pardee reservoirs in the Central Sierra foothills.
“We're working to save every drop in light of the warm temperatures that we are experiencing now, and in light of all the zeros that we are seeing in terms of a rain or snow forecast,” said spokesperson Andrea Pook. “The last time that we had run off this early was in 2015.”
Pook said the district is releasing less water from its reservoirs now, in order to preserve more for the fall when salmon migrate upriver to spawn.
“We're tracking to not necessarily be in a drought situation. But I am not convinced that we're going to fill our reservoirs by July 1st, which is our usual goal,” Pook said.
Improved forecasts after a major miss
Even as California suffers record heat and early snowmelt, the state is better prepared than in the past.
Five years ago, state forecasters badly missed their runoff predictions — overestimating the snowmelt expected to refill reservoirs by up to 68%. Dry soils and a parched atmosphere drank up the runoff before it could flow into storage. Farms and cities scrambled in the middle of a drought as supplies fell far short of expectations.
This year is different. Major reservoirs are already above historic averages, and early season storms soaked the soil beneath the snowpack, making it less likely to swallow the runoff.
The state has also been working on better forecasts.
“Things have substantially improved,” said Andrew Schwartz, Director of UC Berkeley’s Central Sierra Snow Laboratory, in an email to CalMatters.
Johnson, at the federal Central Valley Project, said that the state and federal water delivery systems are in a better spot than five years ago, and that forecasts haven’t made a major miss since.
But the season’s early melt may still leave a gap.
“It's going to get us through this year just fine,” Johnson said. “But it's not as ideal as having that additional snow reservoir ready to run off through summer, and replenish what we're going to be releasing.”
Improved snowpack modeling and soil moisture estimates, experimental temperature measurements at different snow depths, university collaborations and incorporating weather outlooks are helping, according to the Department of Water Resources.
Still, between state budget shortfalls and federal cuts, challenges remain, Anderson said.
Efforts to install more soil moisture sensors in national forests have run into permitting slowdowns at the U.S. Forest Service, which has shed thousands of employees under President Donald Trump.
“You wait in line a lot longer,” Anderson said. “That's been the biggest limitation of late. There just isn't anybody there.”
The fasting period for millions of Muslims ends this weekend with Eid al-Fitr — the “festival of breaking the fast” — marking the end of Ramadan.
Topline:
The fasting period for millions of Muslims ends this weekend with Eid al-Fitr — the “festival of breaking the fast” — marking the end of Ramadan.
What to expect: The holiday, which lasts three days, centers on prayer, charity and time spent with family and community. And with it comes a wave of joyful celebrations, feasts and family events. Across Los Angeles, that spirit is reflected in a range of events.
Read on... from Eid-themed picnics in Ladera Heights to comedy shows in Westlake to a 5K run through Boyle Heights, here are some of the best ways to commemorate the end of Ramadan.
The fasting period for millions of Muslims ends this weekend with Eid al-Fitr — the “festival of breaking the fast” — marking the end of Ramadan.
The holiday, which lasts three days, centers on prayer, charity and time spent with family and community.
And with it comes a wave of joyful celebrations, feasts and family events.
These gatherings arrive after a stretch of difficult years marked by global conflict, including wars in Iran, Gaza, Lebanon and Sudan, and many other ongoing conflicts worldwide.
For many, those events have cast a shadow over recent Ramadans, making the spirit of the holy month feel harder to fully hold onto, especially for those watching the violence unfold from afar.
Still, Eid offers a moment of grounding, with events showing how that sense of togetherness endures — a chance to gather with loved ones, give thanks and find meaning in community.
And across Los Angeles, that spirit is reflected in a range of events. From Eid-themed picnics in Ladera Heights to comedy shows in Westlake to a 5K run through Boyle Heights, here are some of the best ways to commemorate the end of Ramadan.
Chand Raat Mela at Islamic Center of South Bay–LA
South Bay 25816 Walnut St. Lomita Date: Thursday, March 19 Time: 6 to 11 p.m. More info here.
Grab some food, browse outfits and jewelry, get your mehndi (henna) done and soak up the pre‑Eid buzz with families from all over.
Prayer at Masjid Umar Ibn Al Khattab
Exposition Park 1025 W Exposition Blvd, Los Angeles Date: Friday, March 20, Time: 8 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. More info here.
Join a packed Eid congregation across from USC, with early‑morning prayer, and complimentary coffee, tea and snacks such as donuts, cookies, sandwiches, nachos and hot dogs.
Prayer at Masjid Al-Zahra
Southeast LA 8152 Seville Ave, South Gate Date: Friday, March 20 Time: 7:30 am More info here.
Masjid Al-Zahra is offering prayers followed by a breakfast.
Prayer at the Islamic Center of Southern California
Koreatown 434 S. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles Date: Friday, March 20 Time: Take beerat at 7 a.m. with prayer at 7:30 a.m.; Take beerat at 9 a.m. with prayer at 9:30 a.m. More info here.
Mark a historic Eid as Islamic Center of Southern California (ICSC) hosts prayers at its Vermont Avenue campus, offering multiple morning prayer times and easy access to Koreatown eats afterward.
Eid Picnic at Kenneth Hahn
Ladera Heights 4100 S. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles Date: Friday, March 20 Time: 2 to 7 p.m. More info here.
Join the fun with BBQ on the grill, kids getting soaked in water games, and friendly basketball and soccer showdowns.
Eid in the City at Ladera Park
Ladera Heights 6027 Ladera Park Ave., Los Angeles Date: Friday, March 20 Time: 3 p.m. More info here.
Pack a blanket, round up the crew and hang out at this potluck in the park.
Wellness as Resistance at InnerCity
Boyle Heights 3467 Whittier Blvd., Los Angeles Date: Friday, March 20 Time: 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. More info here.
Gaby Alcala from Luminous Body Therapy is offering a free, grounding community sound bath at InnerCity Struggle’s Youth and Community Center.
Nowruz 2026
Highland Park 5541 York Blvd., Los Angeles Date: Friday, March 20 Time: 7 p.m. More info here.
Celebrate the arrival of spring with Nowruz, the Persian New Year, featuring live Persian music.
“Beetlejuice” at the Pantages
Hollywood 6233 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles Date: Friday, March 20 to Sunday, March 22 Time: Various More info here.
The cult‑favorite musical adaptation of “Beetlejuice” delivers big spectacle, singalong moments right on Hollywood Boulevard.
Immanuel Wilkins at Blue Note
Hollywood 6372 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles Date: Friday, March 20 to Sunday, March 22 Time: Various More info here.
Saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins brings cutting‑edge jazz to Blue Note for an ideal date night.
Beautify your community
East LA 4025 City Terrace Drive, Los Angeles Date: Saturday, March 21 Time: 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. More info here.
Connect with your neighbors at a street cleanup hosted by Visión City Terrace and the Maravilla Community Advisory Committee at City Terrace Library.
Goats & Totes
Westside 8840 National Blvd., Culver City Date: Saturday, March 21 Time: 11 a.m.More info here.
Take the family to meet and pet some goats at Ivy Station.
DOLORES at Plaza de la Raza
Lincoln Heights 3540 N. Mission Road, Los Angeles Date: Saturday, March 21 Time: 3 p.m. More info here.
Explore the legacy of Dolores Huerta with a screening, art exhibit, opening reception and panel conversation at the Plaza de la Raza Boathouse Gallery as part of a special exhibition on view through April 12, 2026.
Andrew Callaghan at The Wiltern
Westlake 3790 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles Date: Saturday, March 21 Time: 7:30 p.m. More info here.
Andrew Callaghan brings his popular “Channel 5” world to the stage for a one‑night carnival of live bits, interviews and typically internet-native chaos.
“Vertigo” in Concert with the LA Phil
Downtown 111 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90012 Date: Saturday, March 21 Time: 8 p.m. More info here.
See Hitchcock’s “Vertigo” on the big screen while the LA Phil performs Bernard Herrmann’s iconic score live at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Beautify your community
East LA 2609 E. Cesar E. Chavez Ave., Los Angeles Date: Sunday, March 22 Time: 7:30 a.m. More info here.
Join Healing in Spanglish and Acurrúcame Cafe for a 5K run or 2-mile walk through Boyle Heights. Stay for the post-run cafecito. The first 50 cars will get access to free parking at 345 N. Fickett St.
Dorsey High School Eid Al‑Fitr Festival 2026
Crenshaw 3537 Farmdale Ave., Los Angeles Date: Sunday, March 22 Time: 12 to 4 p.m. More info here.
Spend the afternoon roaming food stalls, checking out vendors and just hanging out. Adults pay a small entry fee, kids get in free.
Butterfly Pavilion
Exposition Park 900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles Date: Sunday, March 22 Time: 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. More info here.
Starting Sunday, you can take the kids to walk among hundreds of beautiful butterflies at the Natural History Museum. Reservations are required. The pavilion runs through the summer.
New Horizon School Eid Breakfast
San Gabriel Valley 651 N. Orange Grove Blvd., Pasadena Date: Monday, March 30 Time: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. More info here.
Roll up with the family for a laid‑back breakfast, kids’ activities and plenty of time to catch up with friends between coffee refills.
