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What Is Drought?
August 31, 2023 at 04:07 PM EDT
By Weatherbug Meteorologist, Mark Ellinwood
An extended period of abnormal dryness can have multiple causes and forms gradually. A prolonged drought can have devastating consequences.
Drought is not as dramatic as most natural disasters due to the length of time it takes to develop. Its effects are not immediate, but the longer a drought goes on, the more severe its impacts will be.
Drought conditions usually develop when a weather pattern disrupts the typical water cycle in a region. It can occur over a period of weeks, months, or even years. Part of the reason why severe droughts can be so devastating is it’s difficult to determine when it will come to an end.
Besides the more obvious lack of rain or snow, drought can also develop due to human consumption. If people are drawing water out of bodies of water and aquifers faster than nature can replenish it, drought conditions can form.
Consequences to having long term drought include decreased water availability for homes, farms, and businesses, lower rivers and lakes that could cause harm to wildlife, and increased risk of wildfires as plants and soils dry out.
In times of severe drought, it will take a lot of rain or snow to replenish the water system and remove the drought conditions. Many times this drought relief occurs in the form of tropical systems or several water-laden storm systems, which would cause flooding conditions before relieving the drought.
Image credit: NOAA
Drought is not as dramatic as most natural disasters due to the length of time it takes to develop. Its effects are not immediate, but the longer a drought goes on, the more severe its impacts will be.
Drought conditions usually develop when a weather pattern disrupts the typical water cycle in a region. It can occur over a period of weeks, months, or even years. Part of the reason why severe droughts can be so devastating is it’s difficult to determine when it will come to an end.
Besides the more obvious lack of rain or snow, drought can also develop due to human consumption. If people are drawing water out of bodies of water and aquifers faster than nature can replenish it, drought conditions can form.
Consequences to having long term drought include decreased water availability for homes, farms, and businesses, lower rivers and lakes that could cause harm to wildlife, and increased risk of wildfires as plants and soils dry out.
In times of severe drought, it will take a lot of rain or snow to replenish the water system and remove the drought conditions. Many times this drought relief occurs in the form of tropical systems or several water-laden storm systems, which would cause flooding conditions before relieving the drought.
Image credit: NOAA