Drought Early Warning Activities
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.
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.
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.
Hawaii and the six jurisdictions in the U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI) are extremely vulnerable to drought events. Many of these islands in the Pacific are low-lying atolls, which are…
2020
2021
The North Central Climate Collaborative (NC3) is composed of individuals with expertise in climate science, agronomy, stormwater management, and other disciplines, and is working to increase the…
Since 2011, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s Central Regional Climate Services Director, American Association of State Climatologists, U.S. Department of Agriculture Climate Hubs…
During the 2020 Northeast drought, the NIDIS communications team and the Northeast DEWS team published weekly updates on drought impacts and forecast…
The Northeast Regional Climate Center (NRCC) uses a Google listserv to collect and share information on drought conditions. The listserv allows for…