Physical Sciences Laboratory (PSL)

The American Meteorological Society’s 104th Annual Meeting is fast approaching. This year’s meeting, which will be held on January 28–February 1 in Baltimore, will focus on the theme, "Living in a Changing Environment." This theme centers on “defin[ing] the steps and scientific advances necessary to minimize the impacts of climate change, and to engage policy makers and the public in that

The American Meteorological Society is hosting its 104th annual meeting on January 28–February 1, 2024, in Baltimore, Maryland. This year, the meeting will focus on the theme, "Living in a Changing Environment." The National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) is excited to co-chair sessions during the 38th Conference on Hydrology on Advancements in Analysis and Prediction of Drought

The American Meteorological Society is hosting its 103rd annual meeting on January 8–12, 2023, in Denver, Colorado. This year, the meeting will focus on the theme, "Data: Driving Science. Informing Decisions. Enriching Humanity.” The National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) and its partners are excited to co-chair several sessions related to drought analysis and prediction, flash

Since early 2020, the Southwest United States has suffered record low precipitation and near-record high temperatures, gripping the region with an unyielding, unprecedented, and costly drought. This exceptional drought—marked by massive water shortages, destructive wildfires, emergency declarations, and the first ever water delivery shortfall among the states sharing the Colorado River—punctuates

The 2017 Northern Plains drought sparked wildfires, destroyed livestock, and reduced agricultural production. Neither the drought’s swift onset nor its severity were forecasted. In May 2017, the region was mostly drought-free, and at least average summer precipitation was forecasted. By July 2017, North Dakota, South Dakota, eastern Montana, and the Canadian prairies were experiencing severe to

Drought can have a significant impact on the management and operations of water utilities, from loss of water supply and poor source water quality to increased demand from customers and reduced revenues. Changing conditions in precipitation, snowpack, soil moisture, temperature, and evapotranspiration must be well monitored and better forecasted to provide water managers early warning of drought

The Evaporative Demand Drought Index, also known as EDDI, is an experimental drought monitoring and early warning tool that looks for drought using atmospheric evaporative demand (also known as the “thirst of the atmosphere”). So far, EDDI maps and data have been made available for near-real-time and historical monitoring; now, with the help of the NOAA-National Centers for Environmental

The Physical Sciences Division (PSD) of the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, in partnership with NIDIS, is conducting a year-long study examining the 2017 Northern Plains Drought. The study is examining the causes, evolution, and predictability of last year’s drought across much of Montana and the Dakotas, evaluating the historical behavior of droughts over this region, and determining what