Flash droughts: A review and assessment of the challenges imposed by rapid-onset droughts in the United States

Jason A. Otkin; Mark Svoboda; Eric D. Hunt; Trent W. Ford; Martha C. Anderson; Christopher Hain; Jeffrey B. Basara

doi:10.1175/BAMS-D-17-0149.1

Flash droughts: A review and assessment of the challenges imposed by rapid-onset droughts in the United States

Jason A. Otkin, Mark Svoboda, Eric D. Hunt, Trent W. Ford, Martha C. Anderson, Christopher Hain, Jeffrey B. Basara

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

Abstract

A review and assessment of the challenges imposed by rapid-onset droughts in the United States is presented. It is recommended that the climate features referred to as 'flash droughts' in the scientific literature be identified based on how rapidly they intensify. These events demonstrate the suddenness with which extreme drought conditions can develop and the high impact that they have on the economy and local ecosystems. Researhers provide an overview of recent research on flash droughts and then present a proposed definition for 'flash drought' and a checklist that can be used to track its development. They discuss the importance of drought monitoring tools and forecasting methods that can quickly capture flash drought onset and predict its evolution over subseasonal time scales.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	911-919
Number of pages	9
Journal	Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
Volume	99
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-17-0149.1
State	Published - May 2018
Externally published	Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Atmospheric Science

Online availability

10.1175/BAMS-D-17-0149.1

Library availability

Discover UIUC Full Text

Cite this

@article{78cf2726bbde4e9e8c899dd6d8e0d4bf,

title = "Flash droughts: A review and assessment of the challenges imposed by rapid-onset droughts in the United States",

abstract = " A review and assessment of the challenges imposed by rapid-onset droughts in the United States is presented. It is recommended that the climate features referred to as 'flash droughts' in the scientific literature be identified based on how rapidly they intensify. These events demonstrate the suddenness with which extreme drought conditions can develop and the high impact that they have on the economy and local ecosystems. Researhers provide an overview of recent research on flash droughts and then present a proposed definition for 'flash drought' and a checklist that can be used to track its development. They discuss the importance of drought monitoring tools and forecasting methods that can quickly capture flash drought onset and predict its evolution over subseasonal time scales.",

author = "Otkin, {Jason A.} and Mark Svoboda and Hunt, {Eric D.} and Ford, {Trent W.} and Anderson, {Martha C.} and Christopher Hain and Basara, {Jeffrey B.}",

note = "Funding Information: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. The authors would like to acknowledge support provided by the NOAA Climate Program Office (CPO) Modeling, Analysis, Predictions, and Projections program under Grant NA14OAR4310226, the NOAA CPO Sectoral Applications Research Program under Grants NA16OAR4310130 and NA13OAR4310122, and the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture under Grant 2013-69002-23146. The authors also want to thank two anonymous reviewers and the editor for their thorough reviews that helped improve the clarity of the manuscript.",

year = "2018",

month = may,

doi = "10.1175/BAMS-D-17-0149.1",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "99",

pages = "911--919",

journal = "Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society",

issn = "0003-0007",

publisher = "American Meteorological Society",

number = "5",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Flash droughts

T2 - A review and assessment of the challenges imposed by rapid-onset droughts in the United States

AU - Otkin, Jason A.

AU - Svoboda, Mark

AU - Hunt, Eric D.

AU - Ford, Trent W.

AU - Anderson, Martha C.

AU - Hain, Christopher

AU - Basara, Jeffrey B.

N1 - Funding Information: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. The authors would like to acknowledge support provided by the NOAA Climate Program Office (CPO) Modeling, Analysis, Predictions, and Projections program under Grant NA14OAR4310226, the NOAA CPO Sectoral Applications Research Program under Grants NA16OAR4310130 and NA13OAR4310122, and the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture under Grant 2013-69002-23146. The authors also want to thank two anonymous reviewers and the editor for their thorough reviews that helped improve the clarity of the manuscript.

PY - 2018/5

Y1 - 2018/5

N2 - A review and assessment of the challenges imposed by rapid-onset droughts in the United States is presented. It is recommended that the climate features referred to as 'flash droughts' in the scientific literature be identified based on how rapidly they intensify. These events demonstrate the suddenness with which extreme drought conditions can develop and the high impact that they have on the economy and local ecosystems. Researhers provide an overview of recent research on flash droughts and then present a proposed definition for 'flash drought' and a checklist that can be used to track its development. They discuss the importance of drought monitoring tools and forecasting methods that can quickly capture flash drought onset and predict its evolution over subseasonal time scales.

AB - A review and assessment of the challenges imposed by rapid-onset droughts in the United States is presented. It is recommended that the climate features referred to as 'flash droughts' in the scientific literature be identified based on how rapidly they intensify. These events demonstrate the suddenness with which extreme drought conditions can develop and the high impact that they have on the economy and local ecosystems. Researhers provide an overview of recent research on flash droughts and then present a proposed definition for 'flash drought' and a checklist that can be used to track its development. They discuss the importance of drought monitoring tools and forecasting methods that can quickly capture flash drought onset and predict its evolution over subseasonal time scales.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85047956831&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85047956831&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1175/BAMS-D-17-0149.1

DO - 10.1175/BAMS-D-17-0149.1

M3 - Review article

AN - SCOPUS:85047956831

SN - 0003-0007

VL - 99

SP - 911

EP - 919

JO - Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society

JF - Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society

IS - 5

ER -

Flash droughts: A review and assessment of the challenges imposed by rapid-onset droughts in the United States

Abstract

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Online availability

Library availability

Related links

Fingerprint

Cite this