The Drought That Broke Records Across the United States Weather data suggests that drought in the contiguous United States is at record levels for this time of year. Meteorologists indicated that this is a negative indicator for the forthcoming wildfire season, food costs, and problems with water in the West. The U.S. Drought Monitor says that more than 61% of the Lower 48 states are in moderate to severe drought. This includes 97% of the Southeast and two-thirds of the West. Since the drought monitor started in 2000, these are the highest readings at this time of year. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Palmer Drought Severity Index reached its highest level for March since records began in 1895. Last month was also the third-driest month on record, no matter what time of year it was. It was only behind the famous Dust Bowl months of July and August 1934.
Reasons and Conditions That Are Getting Worse Because of record heat, the first few months of the year have seen very little snow in most of the West. This is generally how the region saves water for the summer. Brian Fuchs of the National Drought Mitigation Center said that a new drought, which is caused by the jet stream keeping storms further north, has pushed the South, from Texas to the East Coast, into a separate drought that just happens to be happening at the same time as what's going on in the West. NOAA determined that eastern Texas would need 19 inches of rain in one month to end the drought, and most of the Southeast would need more than a foot of rain to make up for the lack of water. Fuchs stated, "Right now, 61% of the country is in a drought, and that number has been going up steadily all year." "We just haven't seen too many springs where this part of the country has been in this bad of shape." A very technical but important way to assess "the sponginess" of the air is how much moisture the hot, dry air is taking from the land it's scorching. The name for it is vapor pressure deficit. Park Williams of UCLA claimed that it is 77% more than typical and more than 25% higher than the previous record for January through March in the West. Williams said the kind of moisture-sucking from the ground "wouldn't have seemed possible" before now.
Increasing Risks: Water Shortages, Wildfires, and Farming Meteorologists are worried that summer is when droughts are at their worst, not spring. Williams added, "Fire tends to respond to heat and drought in an exponential way." "For every degree of warming, the fire gets bigger than it did before." Kathy Jacobs, director of the Center for Climate Adaptation Science and Solutions at the University of Arizona, stated that cacti are flowering months early in Arizona and people are already worried about water. Jacobs added, "Of course, those of us who depend on the Colorado River are very worried that we don't have a negotiated way to move forward in what seems to be the worst year of drought we've all seen." "We have a lot of reservoirs that aren't full." Jeff Masters of Yale Climate Connections remarked that his biggest worry is what drought will do to farming and eventually to food prices. If the drought causes America to have a bad crop year, it might be a concern for the whole world. A significant natural El Niño weather pattern is expected, which usually lowers food yields in other parts of the world, like India. Williams from UCLA noted that both natural changes and climate change induced by people are to blame for the drought and harsher weather. Randomness is a little more important. Jacobs from Arizona said, "Climate change now affects all weather." "There is no weather that is separate from climate trends." But this severe event is just as bad as we thought it would be: very hot and very dry weather.
