The drought in the continental United States has widened to record levels for spring, raising concerns about wildfires and water shortages as the dry heat of summer rapidly approaches.
Varying levels of drought covered 62.78% of the country as of April 21, with most of the south, west and plains experiencing the worst conditions. In other words, in the history of the U.S. Drought Monitor, which has data dating back to 2000, the dryness of the lower 48 states has never been so widespread in the spring.
The Southeast in particular is facing unprecedented levels of dryness, with 94% of the region from Florida to Virginia officially in severe drought or worse, the highest on record. As of Wednesday, dead vegetation had already sparked at least 20 large fires across the region, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
This year’s record for dry conditions also falls just 2-3% short of the year-long monitor record set on September 25, 2012.
April’s data comes on the heels of March, which was the third worst drought in more than 130 years of record, based on a different method by which the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration calculates long-term dryness across the continental United States. Only two months during the 1934 Dust Bowl era were worse.
A lack of rain and snow in the first three months of 2026 led to this spring’s drought. Rainfall across the continental United States was less than 70% of the average for January through March, the lowest in records since 1895, according to NOAA. The previous record was set in 1910.
The La Niña event likely contributed to the lack of rain, especially across the southern tier of the country, while in the West, storms moved farther north this winter and early spring, avoiding the Rocky Mountains.
Dry conditions in the Southeast worsened significantly during the winter and early spring, with more than 99% of the region experiencing some degree of drought.
⛅ Get CNN Weather in your inbox
The forecast is just beginning. We bring you expert coverage and the stories behind the weather. So you always know more than just the numbers. Sign up for newsletter
In Georgia, 71% of the state is currently in extreme drought, the highest since 2012. For the first time in the history of the Georgia Forestry Commission, a burning ban is mandated for 91 counties in the lower half of the state. That includes Brantley County, about 32 miles west of Brunswick, Georgia, where the Highway 82 fire destroyed at least 54 structures, including homes, this week and prompted mandatory evacuations. More than 99% of the county is currently experiencing an exceptional drought, one of the first and most severe on record.
Florida’s wildfires are devouring scorched vegetation, hit by the double whammy of reduced rainfall from this winter’s La Niña weather event and from last fall’s tropical storms. Nearly 1,800 wildfires have scorched parts of the state so far this year, according to the Florida Forest Service.
In the West, an unprecedented March heatwave made worse by global warming pollution also further depleted the dismal snowpack from a winter filled with bluer skies than snowflakes. In early April, the Colorado Climate Center announced, “This year was the worst year on record for snowfall in Colorado.”
This has raised concerns about water shortages as many western states rely on melting snow to supply water to reservoirs and rivers ahead of drier summer months. That includes the already shrinking Colorado River, which provides water to tens of millions of people in seven southwestern states.
The Bureau of Reclamation forecasts that the minimum flow of water into Lake Powell from the Colorado River in the coming months is expected to be just 29% of the historical average, one of the lowest on record for the reservoir along the Arizona-Utah border. Dropping water levels in the Powell River will also affect hydroelectric power projects downstream at Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir, and Hoover Dam. The bureau said the reduction in water output from the Powell River could seriously hurt Hoover’s hydropower generation, cutting hydropower production by 40% as early as this fall.
As of April 17, wildfires across the United States had burned more than 1.7 million acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. This is almost double the average area burned over the past 10 years to that date. A big part of that was Nebraska’s Morrill Fire, which became the state’s largest fire in March after strong winds quickly spread through more than 640,000 acres of drought-starved vegetation.
Fire concerns are expected to become more severe in the West over the coming months. Above-normal fire activity is expected to spread from May through July from the Plains to the Four Corners, Northern California, Oregon, Washington and parts of Idaho, according to the fire center’s forecast.
Florida is also expected to face above-normal fire activity until at least June, when the summer rain season begins and heavy rains ease.
In the short term, much-needed rain is expected to arrive in the south over the next week.
Drought-stricken areas from eastern Oklahoma to Tennessee, northern Alabama and northern Georgia could see 1 to 3 inches of rain, but that’s just a drop in the bucket. NOAA says parts of the region will need more than 20 inches of rain in the next three months to break out of the current drought.
Parts of the central and southern Rockies would need more than 10 inches of rain to end the drought within three months. This is not expected to happen as the region heads into a dry late spring and summer, but southwest monsoon rains from July to September could help the region.
