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.
Accurate estimates of reference evapotranspiration (ET0…
2021
2023
Droughts of the 21st century are characterized by hotter temperatures, greater spatial extent, and longer duration. This situation leads to ecological impacts from drought that ripple…
2020
2022
The Washington Department of Ecology is the state's lead agency for water supplies, and this web page summarizes statewide conditions based on multiple data sources, drought preparedness and…
This brief two-page quarterly report provides a summary of the previous season's weather and climate, including any extreme events that occurred and the associated impacts. The report also…
This funding will extend the Wind River Reservation Drought Preparedness Project. It will support a full-scale drought planning process to engage stakeholders across multiple departments,…
2015
2018