Accelerating Resilience to Flash Drought through Dialogue Between Researchers and Practitioners: 2nd National Flash Drought Workshop

Droughts are often thought of as slow-moving natural hazards. However, some serious droughts occur with such rapid onset that it seems as if they appear in a “flash,” rendering them and their consequences hard to predict and prepare for. These flash droughts can have substantial agricultural and economic consequences, including billions of dollars in losses.

Various notable flash droughts over the past several years (e.g. the Central U.S. in 2012, Northern Plains in 2017, and Southeast U.S. in 2016 and 2019) have sparked intense interest in flash drought by both the research community as well as drought managers/practitioners (hereafter “practitioners”) and the public.

There are differing understandings of what flash drought is and how it differs from other types of drought. Equally important, there is widespread recognition that existing monitoring and forecasting products and tools do not provide adequate early warning for flash drought.

To address these issues, NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) held a virtual workshop in December 2020 that convened researchers, practitioners, and other interested stakeholders to explore characteristics and definitions of flash drought, and to coordinate and co-develop a research agenda to address its associated management challenges.

As a follow-up effort to this first workshop, the 2nd National Flash Drought Workshop took place in Boulder, Colorado from May 2-4, 2023, hosted by NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS). The 2nd National Flash Drought Workshop gathered researchers and practitioners (i.e., those responding to and planning for flash drought at the local, state, and/or regional level) from federal, tribal, state, and local agencies, as well as academia and international institutions to address the topic of flash drought from both a national and regional perspective.

The overarching goal of the 2nd National Flash Drought Workshop was to bring together the flash drought research community and practitioners to build stronger connections and increase coordination in order to ensure that flash drought research and tools are meeting the needs of practitioners who are responding to and planning for flash drought.

This presentation will highlight the key takeaways from the sessions at the workshop, the gaps, needs, and opportunities identified at the workshop, and the priorities moving forward for the flash drought research and practitioner community.