What's New at the Drought Monitor

The Drought Impact Reporter...

is an interactive tool developed by the NDMC to collect, quantify, and map reported drought impacts for the United States. The Drought Impact Reporter was created in response to the need for a national drought impact database. A risk management approach to drought management, which strongly emphasizes improved monitoring and preparedness, requires timely information on the severity and spatial extent of drought and its associated impacts. The information provided by the Drought Impact Reporter will help U.S. policy and decision makers identify what types of impacts are occurring and where.

Information for the impact report database comes from a variety of sources, including on-line drought-related news stories and scientific publications, reviewed by NDMC staff; members of the public who visit the website and submit a drought-related impact; members of the media; and members of government agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

North American Drought Monitor...

The North America Drought Monitor (NA-DM) is a cooperative effort between drought experts in Canada, Mexico and the United States to monitor drought across the continent on an ongoing basis. Major US participants in the NA-DM program include NOAA's National Climatic Data Center, Climate Prediction Center, the US Department of Agriculture, and the National Drought Mitigation Center. Major participants in Canada and Mexico include Agriculture and Agrifood Canada, the Meteorological Service of Canada, and the National Meteorological Service of Mexico (SMN - Servicio Meteorologico Nacional).

Drought Severity Classification Table...

On May 3, 2001, the D4 drought category in the weekly U.S. Drought Monitor was redefined to indicate a 1 in 50 year occurrence rather than the current 1 in 100 year occurrence. The change is being instituted because available historical data may not be sufficient to accurately delineate 1 in 100 year droughts. See the NWS Public Information Statement.

Interim National Drought Council...

formed in September 2000 to establish a more comprehensive, integrated, coordinated approach toward reducing the impacts of drought through better preparedness, monitoring and prediction, risk management, and response to drought emergencies in the United States.

Click here to visit the website.

Drought Monitor Forum

The first Drought Monitor forum was held in Lincoln, Nebraska, November 16-17, 2000, and was hosted by the National Drought Mitigation Center. The intent of the forum was to discuss lessons we've learned in year one and where the Drought Monitor should go from here. Click here for a .pdf version of the forum summary.

Click here if you would like to see a list of participants who attended the forum.

Drought Monitor Introduced at White House

The Drought Monitor provides a weekly overview of where in the United States drought is emerging, lingering, subsiding or forecast. The Monitor is produced jointly by the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

The three-way partnership is responding to the need for accurate, centralized drought information by developing a map that summarizes information from numerous drought indices and indicators on a single, easy-to-read color map known as the Drought Monitor.

To create the map, the partnership blends current information from numerous sources, including the National Weather Service, National Climatic Data Center, Regional Climate Centers, USDA’s Joint Agricultural Weather Facility, USDA’s National Water and Climate Center, Department of Interior’s U.S. Geological Survey and Bureau of Reclamation, as well as many other sources.

The map uses a new classification system to show drought intensity and type, similar to the schemes currently in use for hurricanes and tornadoes. The map combines key indices of rainfall and drought to produce the final drought intensity rating. Since drought often affects various activities differently, the map indicates whether drought is affecting agriculture, fire danger, or water supplies.

The latest state-of-the-art forecast tools are being used to indicate whether drought will strengthen or weaken significantly over the next two weeks. In the future, the Climate Prediction Center plans to add maps forecasting drought location weeks and even months into the future.

The consolidated drought map is intended to display broad areas of dryness, not to replace the local drought products produced by National Weather Service Forecast Offices. The drought partners will work with the NWS offices, incorporating their information and coordinating with them on the final public product.

For more information, please contact Randee Exler at NOAA's National Weather Service public affairs at (301) 713-0622, Susan Harrison at NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Prediction at (301) 767-8000 ext. 7007; Mark Svoboda, Climatologist, (402) 472-8238, at the National Drought Mitigation Center; or Al Peterlin, Chief Meteorologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, (202) 720-8651.