Worst spring drought on record grips US, fueling wildfires and water worriesVarying levels of drought covered 62.78% of the country as April 21, with the worst of it centered on much of the South, West and Plains. Put another way, dryness in the Lower 48 states has never been this expansive in spring in the history of the US Drought Monitor, which has data back to 2000.#drought #USDroughtMonitor #USDM https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/23/weather/us-drought-worst-in-decades-wildfires-climate