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.
This project aimed to build a predictive understanding of drought and to quantify the risk of droughts with certain characteristics in the lower and upper Mississippi and Ohio River basins. This…
2019
2022
The Great Plains and California consist of the first and second largest economies in the U.S., but both regions are prone to extreme droughts. Yet, it is…
2020
2023
This project engages with citizen scientists and the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow (CoCoRaHS) Network to promote drought impacts reporting. Observers provide weekly “condition…
2017
2020
Winter-time cloud seeding is being conducted by Idaho Power Company with support from water districts and the Idaho Water Resource Board. The goal of the wintertime cloud seeding is to enhance…
The Colorado Water Conservation Board chairs the Governor’s Flood Task Force and co-chairs the Governor’s Water Availability Task Force to monitor conditions that affect Colorado’s water supply,…