Brown chart with white lettering and pictures showing drought impacts include the following sectors: transportation, agriculture, wildfires, public health, ecosystems, and water quality.
What to Know: Types of Droughts and How They Impact You
Jul 11, 2021 at 8:45pm
The Five Types of Drought
According to NOAA, scientists have come to define and monitor droughts in five different categories:
- Meteorological: When a dry weather pattern dominates the area, leading to drought-like conditions.
- Hydrological: When low water supply becomes clearly observed in an area's water system.
- Agricultural: When a region's crops become impacted by drought conditions.
- Socioeconomic: When the supply and demand of commodities are impacted by drought conditions.
- Ecological: When natural ecosystems in a region are impacted by drought.
Droughts come about slowly, so it's difficult to predict a drought event in the same way that meteorologists can predict and monitor hurricanes, tornadoes, or severe weather.