05/21/2026
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The U.S. is now experiencing its driest start to a year in more than a century.
According to climate scientists and NOAA data, more than 60% of the country is currently in drought conditions, while over 20% is experiencing extreme drought.
And this is not just a regional problem.
The drought stretches across large parts of the Southeast, the Rockies, the Great Plains, and even areas of the Pacific Northwest that typically stay much wetter during La Niña years.
Researchers say the scale of the event is what makes it so unusual.
January through March of 2026 was officially the driest start to a year recorded across the lower 48 states since national records began in 1895.
Scientists partly blame La Niña, a cooling pattern in the Pacific Ocean that shifts atmospheric circulation and often suppresses rainfall across the southern United States.
But this year, the usual storm tracks in the Northwest also weakened, leaving both western and southern regions unusually dry at the same time.
And rising temperatures are making the problem worse.
Hotter air pulls more moisture from soil, plants, and reservoirs through evaporation and evapotranspiration, causing landscapes to dry out faster even when rainfall deficits are similar to past droughts.
In other words, modern droughts are becoming more intense because the atmosphere itself is thirstier.
Scientists say this combination of reduced rainfall and increased heat stress is now pushing some regions into conditions not seen in decades.
Colorado, Georgia, Florida, and parts of the central Rockies are among the hardest-hit areas.
For western states, the situation is especially concerning because mountain snowpack acts like a natural water reservoir throughout the year. When winter storms fail, rivers, farms, forests, and reservoirs enter summer already depleted.
Researchers warn that even periods of summer rain may not fully erase the deeper moisture deficits now building underground.
Forecasters are closely watching the Pacific Ocean for signs that a strong El Niño could develop later this year, potentially bringing wetter conditions to parts of the southern United States.
Read the report:
"Assessing the U.S. Temperature and Precipitation Analysis in March 2026." NOAA.
