Makes for a catchy headline, but you only have to go back to Jan 9, 2024* to find a similarly 'drought free' California:

https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/Maps/CompareTwoWeeks.aspx

(*Technically slivers of the state in the far north/south were 'abnormally dry' in 2024, a small difference from 2026)

For a quicker way to find near-alls you can go to https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/DmData/DataTables.aspx?state,... and select "All" at the bottom then sort D0-D4 ascending. It looks like 2011 had many dates 0.01 cumulative percent area!

Wait so who is being dishonest, the old article, the new one, or both?