Indiana Drought Watch

This map (from USGS's National Drought Watch Web site) shows the 7-day average streamflow conditions in hydrologic units. Thus, the map shows conditions adjusted for this time of the year. The colors represent 7-day average streamflow percentiles for the day of the year. USGS sites having at least 30 years of record are used. The data used to produce this map are provisional and have not been reviewed or edited. They may be subject to significant change.

Drought Information

• Drought Watch
• Drought Monitor
• Weather Service Climate Prediction Center
• Drought Information in MS WORD format; updated 9/27/07
• Indiana State Climate Office

Streamflow and Ground-water Level Information from the U.S. Geological Survey

• Overview of Current Streamflow Conditions in Indiana
• Overview of Current Streamflow Conditions Across the USA
• Indiana Real-Time Groundwater Data
• Ground-water Watch: the Climate Response Network
• Flow-duration tables and other streamflow statistics for selected gaging stations.
   

More Drought Information Resources

• Fact Sheet on Drought
• Low-flow Characteristics of Indiana Streams
• Water Budgets: Foundations for Effective Water-Resources and Environmental Management
• Description and Effects of 1988 Drought on Ground-Water Levels, Streamflow, and Reservoir Levels in Indiana
• Water Supply Paper 2375 - National Water Summary 1988-89--Floods and Droughts
• Indiana, Floods and Droughts (PDF format, 2.7 MB)
• Climate and droughts (p. 89-98)
• Evapotranspiration and droughts (p. 99-104)
• Paleohydrology and its value in analyzing floods and droughts (p. 105-116)
• Management of water resources for drought conditions (p. 147-156)
• National Drought Mitigation Center

Definitions of Drought

Meteorological drought:

"A period of abnormally dry weather sufficiently prolonged for the lack of water to cause serious hydrologic imbalance in the affected area." (Huschke, R.E., ed., 1959, Glossary of meteorology: Boston, American Meteorological Society, 638 p.)

Agricultural drought:

"A climatic excursion involving a shortage of precipitation sufficient to adversely affect crop production or range production." (Rosenberg, N.J., ed., 1979, Drought in the Great Plains--Research on impacts and strategies: Proceedings of the Workshop on Research in Great Plains Drought Management Strategies, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, March 26-28: Littleton, Colorado, Water Resources Publications, 225 p.)

Hydrologic drought:

"A period of below average water content in streams, reservoirs, ground-water aquifers, lakes and soils." (Yevjevich Vujica, Hall, W.A., and Salas, J.D, eds., 1977, Drought research needs, in Proceedings of the Conference on Drought Research Needs, December 12-15, 1977: Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, 276 p.)

Definitions from the National Drought Mitigation Center.