More than 60% of the lower 48 states were in drought as of April 6, the broadest early-April footprint since the U.S. Drought Monitor began in 2000, as an unusually warm March and stubborn dryness deepened concerns about water supplies, wildfire danger, and farm losses across large parts of the country, the Financial Times reported.
The National Drought Mitigation Center's latest weekly map, released Thursday, showed drought worsening in large parts of the Southeast and West, even as some areas of the Plains, Midwest, and South saw localized relief from recent rain. Drought.gov said 50.18% of the United States and Puerto Rico and 60.05% of the lower 48 states were in drought in the latest report.
The dry conditions followed an extraordinary March in which the contiguous United States posted its warmest March on record, with temperatures 9.4 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th-century average, according to NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information.
NOAA said 1,432 counties recorded their single warmest March day on record, and the April 2025 through March 2026 period was the warmest 12-month span ever recorded for the contiguous United States.
Scientists have warned that drought can intensify quickly when heat and precipitation deficits combine, drying out soils, stressing crops, and priming grasslands and forests to burn.
"Because of the dry winter in many places across the West, extended summer heat waves will be a key factor in determining how active the summer wildfire season will be," said Tim Brown of the Desert Research Institute. "If that is what happens, the potential [for wildfires] is going to be high for a lot of places."
The wildfire threat is no longer theoretical.
In Nebraska, fires in March tore across roughly 600,000 acres in three major blazes, according to Gov. Jim Pillen's office, and the Morrill Fire alone later grew to about 643,000 acres, making it the largest wildfire in state history, according to Nebraska Public Media.
The National Weather Service warned again in late March that critical fire weather conditions could return even as containment improved.
The drought has also strained agricultural producers in states where soils remain dry despite scattered recent rain.
"In my career, I have not seen drought conditions across the state like this," said Addie Stamps of the Arkansas Farm Bureau.
Climate signals suggest the pressure may not ease soon.
NOAA's Climate Prediction Center said Thursday that ENSO-neutral conditions are expected to hold through April-June, but that El Nino is likely to emerge in May-July with a 61% chance and persist through at least the end of 2026.
Forecasters said there is even a 1 in 4 chance of a very strong El Nino, although spring outlooks carry uncertainty.
The broader climate backdrop remains hot.
Copernicus, the European Union's Earth Observation Program, said in January that 2025 was the third-warmest year on record globally and that the 2023-2025 period averaged more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level for the first time.
In its latest monthly bulletin, Copernicus said February 2026 was 1.49 degrees Celsius above the estimated 1850-1900 average used to define the pre-industrial level.
"Each figure is striking on its own — together, they paint a picture of a climate system under sustained and accelerating pressure," said Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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