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NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) tracks U.S. weather and climate events that have great economic and societal impacts. Since 1980, the U.S. has sustained 258 weather and climate disasters where the overall damage costs reached or exceeded $1 billion (including adjustments based on the Consumer Price Index, as of January 2020). Among these, 26 droughts cost the nation at least $249 billion, with an average cost of more than $9.6 billion incurred during each event. Only hurricanes were more costly. The cumulative cost for all 258 events exceeds $1.75 trillion.

Including Weekly Maps from the U.S. Drought Monitor, the Most Intense Drought Map, the Weeks in Drought Map, the Cumulative Drought Index, the USDM 1 Year Change Map, the USDA Drought Designated Counties Map, the 12-Month SPI Map, the Annual Departure from Normal Precipitation Map, the Palmer Drought Severity Index, and the Soil Moisture Anomaly Monthly Maps.

The outdoor industry is responsible for 2.2% of national GDP; however, projected increases in the frequency and severity of drought threatens the viability of water-based recreation businesses. NIDIS, in partnership with the University of Colorado's Master of the Environment Graduate Program, hosted a seminar on November 19 to explore the effects of uncertain snowpack levels, streamflows, and warming temperatures on outdoor recreation businesses with a focus on snow- and water-based activities (skiing, fishing, rafting, etc.).

Flash drought can quickly deplete soil moisture and dramatically increase evaporative stress on the environment, leading to significant impacts on agriculture. A recently completed study, led by researchers from the University of Oklahoma and published in the journal Environmental Research Communications, performed a regional analysis across the United States to explore geographic differences of flash droughts.

The Bureau of Reclamation's FY 2020/2021 WaterSMART Drought Response Program: Drought Contingency Planning Grants Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is now available on grants.gov.  Applications are accepted through Wednesday February 5, 2020, at 4pm MST for FY20 funding. The FOA will be updated in early 2020 with the FY21 application submission deadline.

The Southeast is currently experiencing a "Flash Drought." Drought conditions increased throughout the month of September due to extreme dryness and warmer than average temperatures for most of the region. The exceptions include the eastern Carolinas and southern Florida, which were impacted by Hurricane Dorian.

In its simplest form, flash drought is the rapid onset of drought. In contrast with conventional drought, which is mainly driven by lack of precipitation, flash drought usually includes abnormally high temperatures, winds, and/or incoming radiation that leads to abnormally high evapotranspiration (ET) rates. The prediction of flash droughts on sub-seasonal timescales is of critical importance for impact assessment, disaster mitigation, and loss prevention.

What would you say if I told you that right now, the most drought-stricken state in the United States is Alaska? Or what if I said it was the northwestern part of Washington State? Well, despite the notion that these two areas are not known for drought, they’re each experiencing one. The fact is, drought doesn’t just happen in California and the arid west; in 2016 water-rich New England was in a drought as was Hawaii, and in 2015 it was Puerto Rico.

The University of Texas-Arlington, Texas Water Development Board, and NIDIS hosted an interactive workshop on September 12-13 in Arlington, Texas, to learn how NOAA forecasts have been applied in decision-support tools for water management in different states and discuss what steps are needed to integrate NOAA forecasts in reservoir operations and water resources management in the Southern Great Plains (Texas and Oklahoma). 

Drought is a pretty complicated climate extreme to define. Most commonly, it is defined as a precipitation deficit—much less precipitation falls than what is typically expected for a given time period. But drought is not equally distributed across the U.S. Just as there are climatologically wetter areas and drier areas across the country, the same could be said about the occurrence, frequency, and severity of drought.