External Links: Drought Research, Data, and Decision Support

The US Drought Portal, maintained as part of the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS), is part of an interactive system to

• provide early warning about emerging and anticipated droughts
• assimilate and quality control data about droughts and models
• provide information about risks and impact of droughts to different agencies and stakeholders
• provide information about past droughts for comparison and to understand current conditions
• explain how to plan for and manage the impacts of droughts
• provide a forum for different stakeholders to discuss drought-related issues

The United States Drought Monitor houses and updates detailed drought statuses for every US state, region, and territory. Droughts are categorized by their level of intensity, and are updated on a weekly basis. Regional summaries, drought data, as well as conditions and future outlooks are also available.

The Drought Monitoring Advisory Council (DMAC) works to provide consistent and accurate information on drought conditions in order to assist local governments and other water users in taking appropriate drought response actions when needed. NCdrought.org provides information on the current status of drought in the state as well as other decision support tools related to coping with the impacts of drought.

The scdrought.com website, housed by the South Carolina State Climate Office, provides a wealth of information about the historical and current state drought conditions. In addition to drought statuses, the website contains educational drought resources and information to support drought planning.