Building NWS Drought Services to Support a Climate Ready Nation

The National Weather Service (NWS) supports drought messaging and decision support at the local, state and regional levels, contributing to NOAA’s Climate Ready Nation (CRN) initiative to support a thriving nation in a changing climate. 2024 releases of NWS drought products incorporate scientific developments and features to meet user needs. The modernized Drought Information Statement consolidates local drought information into a graphical format, based on a template that reduces forecaster burden by incorporating auto-updating graphics and enabling collaboration amongst neighboring offices. Likewise, NWS Climate Prediction Center’s Rapid Onset Drought risk product fulfills an important user need for identifying areas where drought may develop in the coming two to four weeks. Meanwhile, a team of Weather Forecast Office (WFO) staff and program managers in NWS’s Western Region are working to improve the consistency of service between offices by documenting the services WFOs provide to Western states in times of drought, such as coordinating state-level inputs to the U.S. Drought Monitor and serving on state drought committees. As the frequency and character of drought events evolves in a changing climate, NWS is providing support to its staff and stakeholders, through informational webinars and factsheets about the state of science and by considering how best to serve arid and aridifying regions.