Winter storms which brought relief to drought stricken Californians earlier this month have done little to ease the state's worst drought on record.

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California is the United States' breadbasket – the West-Coast state alone supplies almost half of the entire country's fruits, nuts, and vegetables, though 95 percent of the area is in a state of drought, with almost a quarter experiencing severe drought. California has suffered its warmest and third driest winter on record.

However, though at face value winter storms may appear to be a good thing for California, US weather agency NOAA has said in its spring outlook that rainfall will not lift the state out of drought, but could instead lead to widespread flooding. In its precipitation outlook, the Agency stated that rainfall is likely to remain below average in western Washington, Oregon, California and parts of Nevada and Arizona.

Record setting weather over the winter follows years of drought in California. Heavy rains falling on parched ground, much of which – particularly in hilly regions – has been stripped of vegetation by recent wildfires, led to warnings of flash floods and mudslides from authorities earlier in the month.

California governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency over drought in February, which has led to drastic cutbacks in water availability for irrigation. As a result, farmers are said to be taking large areas of land out of production. The estimated economic impact of these decisions runs into the billions of dollars.   

The US Drought has exacerbated grain rallies, driving up prices of a range of staple crops. Concerns over crops in the country have combined with the situation in the Ukraine, causing marketers to panic, even though plantings have reportedly gone ahead as normal in the Ukraine and exports out of the Black Sea region are apparently still working normally.

Meanwhile, NOAA's Spring Outlook, released on Thursday (20 March), warns that rivers in half of the continental United States are risk of flooding to some degree in April, as the thaw begins in higher regions, which have seen above average levels of snow and ice this winter. NOAA said, "The intensity of the flooding will depend on the rate of snow and ice melt, and future rainfall."

"This year's spring flood potential is widespread and includes rivers in highly populated areas putting millions of Americans at risk," said Dr Louis Uccellini, director of NOAA's National Weather Service. "Although widespread major river flooding is not expected, an abrupt warming or heavy rainfall event could lead to isolated major flooding."

Despite recent rains, NOAA said drought is expected to "persist or intensify" in California, along with Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of Oregon, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Texas, which is still recovering from the effects of a devastating drought in 2012.

NOAA warned that in drought-afflicted regions, "continued stress on crops and livestock due to low water levels, and an expansion of water conservation measures" are likely. However, in more northerly regions, including Washington, Nebraska and states only partly affected, the situation may improve. Recent rainfall has also recharged aquifers in California's Sierra Nevada mountains.