Record U.S. drought sparks fears about wildfires, water and food prices

U.S. Record U.S. drought sparks fears about wildfires, water supply and food prices April 18, 2026 / 11:08 AM EDT / CBS/AP Add CBS News on Google Drought in the contiguous United States has reached record levels for this time of year, weather data shows. Meteorologists said it's a bad sign for the upcoming wildfire season, food prices and western water issues.More than 61% of the Lower 48 states is in moderate to exceptional drought - including 97% of the Southeast and two-thirds of the West, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. It's the highest levels for this time of year since the drought monitor began in 2000.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's comprehensive Palmer Drought Severity Index not only hit its highest level for March since records started in 1895, but last month was the third-driest month recorded regardless of time of year. It trailed only the famed Dust Bowl months of July and August 1934.Drought peaks earlier than normalBecause of record heat, much of the West has had exceptionally low levels of snow in the first few months of the year, which is usually how the region stores water for the summer.  The region endured a historic snow drought that experts warn could bring water shortages and wildfires in the months ahead. New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah are contending with record-low snowpack, federal records show. Snowpack is the accumulation of mountain snow that fortifies rivers, reservoirs and drinking water systems once it melts. Low snowpack can make wildfire-prone land even more vulnerable.A different drought — connected to the jet stream keeping storms further north — has put the South from Texas all the way to the East Coast into a separate drought that just happens to coincide with what's going on in the West, said Brian Fuchs, a climatologist with the National Drought Mitigation Center.It would take 19 inches of rain in one month to break the drought in eastern Texas and more than a foot...