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The state of Missouri is working to better track water from the sky into the soil, in the hopes that expanded soil moisture data across the state can help decision-makers better predict, prepare for, and track both drought and flood events. 

A key to an effective drought early warning system is having the people and processes in place before drought happens. In August 2024, parts of Ohio reached Exceptional Drought (D4), the most intense level of the U.S. Drought Monitor. Even though this was the most intense drought in Ohio in 25 years, they were not caught unprepared. Ohio is part of the NIDIS Midwest Drought Early Warning System, which has been working for years to improve drought early warning and monitoring and alleviate drought impacts. 

Weather forecasts struggle to predict how much snow will stick around, or how quickly it will melt away. Scientists, supported by the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) are addressing this challenge by improving how climate models simulate snow, a crucial step to better predict droughts and water availability in the Western U.S. 

Next week, the American Meteorological Society (AMS) is hosting its 105th annual meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana.This year, the meeting will focus on the theme, "Towards a Thriving Planet: Charting the Course Across Scales." NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) is excited to co-chair two sessions during this year’s meeting: Advancements in Analysis and Prediction of Drought and Advances in Communicating the Risk of Drought and Cascading Hazards. 

After a warm, dry October, drought reached a nationwide record this year. Ohio and West Virginia saw their most area in Extreme and Exceptional Drought (D3-D4) since the U.S. Drought Monitor began in 2000. Far West Texas, southern New Mexico, and the Northern Rockies remained in persistent drought throughout the year. Meanwhile, areas of the West in long-term drought, including parts of the Southwest, saw some improvement in spring. 

The third Ogallala Aquifer Summit brought together more than 230 crop and livestock growers, scientists and technical experts, water managers, governments, and other partners to work to address water management challenges within the region.

NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) has awarded $1.95 million in funding for projects to support tribal drought resilience as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. This investment will help tribal nations address current and future drought risk on tribal lands across the Western U.S. while informing decision-making and strengthening tribal drought resilience in a changing climate. 

Higher temperatures caused by anthropogenic climate change made an ordinary drought into an exceptional drought that parched the American West from 2020-2022, according to a new study by scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS), and the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences.  

A new study, published in Nature Communications: Earth and Environment, has found that climate change means it takes about three months longer for California to recover from drought, and probably longer. The study was led by a group of researchers at UC Merced, with funding from NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Drought intensity is often characterized using meteorological observations, such as precipitation, rather than hydrologic observations, such as reservoir levels and groundwater levels. While precipitation indicates the amount of water entering an area, precipitation models do not determine the amount of water retained in a watershed or the amount lost due to runoff and evapotranspiration, which are important factors for drought management. Researchers from the University of Montana addressed this need by producing a drought index that captures changes in both surface and subsurface hydrologic reservoirs/pools using a rapidly growing interdisciplinary field called hydrogeodesy.