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Of droughts and floods
By dtewes in Sky Watch
October 8, 2008

Image    A Victoria businessman complained yesterday that he reads about droughts in the Advocate one day and floods the next.
   It seemed contradictory to him, I guess. And I can see where it might be confusing.
   But the truth of the matter is you can have both at the same time.
   A drought is a long-term event measured in months or even years, such as the record drought of the 1950s. A flash flood occurs over a matter of hours and a river flood over days.
   A flood or flash flood alone isn’t enough to end a drought. There has to be enough rain over several months to ease or end a drought.
   For the record, the U.S. Drought Monitor shows that Victoria County and areas to the north and west are in a moderate drought. Areas to the south and east are considered to be abnormally dry.

Comments


  • dtewes dtewes Report a ViolationReport a Violation
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    The answer to when a drought is over can get complicated because there are different ways of measuring droughts. Some measure the soil moisture, some measure the effect on crops and some measure the effect on rivers and lakes.
      Typically it's the amount of soil moisture that determines a drought and that can be affected by everything from rainfall to evaporation.

    October 8, 2008 at 11:16 a.m.

  • JulieZavala JulieZavala Report a ViolationReport a Violation
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    I always thought that as soon as a good rain came down (to my naive thoughts, 30 minutes of rain would suffice) that an area would no longer be considered in drought. So are we presently in a drought? How is it decided how much rain is required on a daily or weekly basis to be normal?

    October 8, 2008 at 9:54 a.m.