California Drought Expands, Fueling Heat and Fire

A wildfire exploded outside Los Angeles Thursday as record temperatures spread across California, where drought conditions are escalating as the state comes off its driest year on record. 

A new update to the U.S. Drought Monitor shows that severe drought, the second-worst drought category, has spread across 62.7 percent of California as of Tuesday.  The previous week, severe drought was only affecting 27.6 percent of the state.

Across the western U.S. drier and warmer conditions are expected to lead to more severe and intense wildfires in the future.

California Drought Expands, Fueling Heat and Fire