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Drought Early Warning Activities

Page Summary

Each regional drought early warning system (DEWS) focuses on improving early warning capacity for and resilience to drought in that region, including examining the role of extreme weather events and climate variability in drought.

Regional DEWS Coordination

NIDIS has developed regional drought early warning systems (DEWS) throughout the United States, where local networks of researchers, resource managers, policymakers, the private sector, academics, and other stakeholders share information and actions to help their communities cope with drought.

A DEWS coordinates this network of key regional partners so that decision makers and citizens can systematically approach drought monitoring and forecasting integration when planning and preparing for drought. Regional DEWS encourage innovation by integrating new, locally relevant drought information, and supporting the introduction and testing of technologies that detect and communicate drought risks and warnings.

Regional DEWS activities focus on five key areas for drought early warning (DEWS components): observation and monitoring, prediction and forecasting, planning and preparedness, communication and outreach, and interdisciplinary research and applications.

Circles representing each of the 5 key components of a drought early warning system

Drought Early Warning Activities

The table below shows ongoing activities related to drought early warning across the United States. Each activity falls into one or more of the five key areas of drought early warning systems (DEWS components): observation and monitoring, planning and preparedness, prediction and forecasting, communication and outreach, and interdisciplinary research and applications.

DEWS Components Legend
Observation & Monitoring
 
Planning & Preparedness
 
Prediction & Forecasting
 
Communication & Outreach
 
Research & Applications

Select filters to browse DEWS Activities below

Description

The University of Arizona’s CLIMAS program and the Native Nations Institute, in conjunction with the U.S. Indigenous Data Sovereignty Network, hosted “Supporting Tribal Data Governance for…

Scope
Region
Key Partners
Climate Assessment for the Southwest (CLIMAS, a NOAA RISA Team), University of Arizona, Native Nations Institute, U.S. Indigenous Data Sovereignty Network
Project Timeline
Jan
2017
Jan
2019
DEWS Components
Description

Motivated by the severity and rapid development of the 2017 drought, in addition to inquiries by the NOAA Central Region Climate Services Director as well as the NIDIS Reauthorization Act of…

Scope
Region
Key Partners
NOAA, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), NIDIS
Project Timeline
Dec
2017
Nov
2018
DEWS Components
Description

In July 2021, the Upper Mississippi River Basin Association (UMRBA) Board established a set of three-year objectives for advancing its long-term floodplain resilience planning goals. Reflecting on…

Scope
Region
Key Partners
Upper Mississippi River Basin Association
Project Timeline
Jan
2022
Dec
2024
DEWS Components
Description

This project aimed to use rings of Cottonwood trees to reconstruct climate conditions approximately 250 years (back to around the year 1770, pre‐reservation era). This will …

Scope
State
Key Partners
Shoshone and Arapaho Tribes, Office of the Tribal Water Engineer for the Eastern Shoshone & Northern Arapaho Tribes, Water Resources and Control Board
Project Timeline
Jan
2017
Dec
2018
DEWS Components
Description

Accurate estimates of reference evapotranspiration (ET0

Scope
State
Key Partners
Western Regional Climate Center, Desert Research Institute, NIDIS
Project Timeline
Sep
2021
Feb
2023
DEWS Components