(NewsNation) — For the first time in a quarter-century, California has no areas classified as drought or abnormally dry, per the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Zero percent of the state is experiencing drought conditions as of Jan. 8, a milestone not seen since December 2000, according to the Drought Monitor, which is a weekly map produced jointly by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Drought Mitigation Center.
The dramatic turnaround follows an exceptionally wet start to the 2025 water year, with multiple winter storms delivering above-average rainfall across the state. The state’s drought-free status comes after a remarkably wet period that closed out last year.
In some southern California locations, a single storm brought more rain in one night than typically falls in the entire month of January.
Officials say reservoirs have rebounded significantly, and wildfire risk is low. This comes one year after wildfires ravaged the Los Angeles area.
University of California climate scientist Daniel Swain described the current fire danger as “about as close to zero as it ever gets,” noting to the Los Angeles Times that saturated conditions have helped tamp down vegetation dryness that fuels wildfires.
“This is certainly a less destructive weather winter than last year was and than many of the drought years were, so it’s OK to take that breather and to acknowledge that, right now, things are doing OK,” Swain said.