Tonya Haigh

Evaluation of near-term (sub)seasonal climate services’ impact is challenging but necessary for ensuring that society’s needs for actionable information are met. We use a descriptive study of the monthly North Central U.S. Climate and Drought Webinar Series at two time points (2014 and 2021) to examine societal impacts on capacity-building, sensemaking, fact-establishing, communication, decision-making, and social–ecological systems. The North Central U.S. Climate and Drought Webinar Series arose following a 2011 climate disaster and established itself over the next 10 years as a monthly resource for climate and impact information translation and interaction. Survey respondents indicated early benefits related to understanding how to find and use climate information and improved conceptual understanding of climate issues and problems. Many used webinar information to compare with other sources of data or to incorporate into their own communications, uses which can increase overall societal trust in climate information over time. Attendees’ self-reported capacity for using climate information in decision-making and actual use of information in specific decisions or management contexts increased as the webinar series approached the 10-yr mark. Most participants did not note financial or other social–ecological outcomes of their use of the webinars. We conclude by recommending that climate services be evaluated over sufficiently long time periods to capture evolving impacts and that evaluations incorporate impact rubrics that measure subtle yet important societal capacities and decision-making processes related to climate risk management.

Because flash drought is a relatively new phenomenon in drought research, defining the concept is critical for scientists and decision-makers. Having detrimental impacts on many sectors, it is important to have a consistent definition and understanding of flash drought, between experts and stakeholders, to provide early warning to the community. This study focuses on onset and progression of conditions and demonstrates the difference in flash drought identification for 15 events across six quantitative definitions of flash drought that use the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM). Five flash drought events have been studied in the literature while 10 additional events have been perceived as flash drought by stakeholders. The results show that two of six definitions consistently capture the earliest onset of flash drought and include a large percent area in the identification. A qualitative analysis of management challenges and needs determined by stakeholders was completed using survey data. The results found that managing impacts and better communication and education were the top challenges and more data and enhanced and efficient communication as the top needs to better monitor, manage, and respond to flash droughts. The results demonstrate the need for assessing the characteristics of the definitions to enhance communication and monitoring strategies for large and small-scale flash droughts. Because flash drought is a relatively new phenomenon in drought research, defining the concept is critical for scientists and decision-makers. Having detrimental impacts on many sectors, it is important to have a consistent definition and understanding of flash drought, between experts and stakeholders, to provide early warning to the community. This study focuses on onset and progression of conditions and demonstrates the difference in flash drought identification for 15 events across six quantitative definitions of flash drought that use the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM). Five flash drought events have been studied in the literature while 10 additional events have been perceived as flash drought by stakeholders. The results show that two of six definitions consistently capture the earliest onset of flash drought and include a large percent area in the identification. A qualitative analysis of management challenges and needs determined by stakeholders was completed using survey data. The results found that managing impacts and better communication and education were the top challenges and more data and enhanced and efficient communication as the top needs to better monitor, manage, and respond to flash droughts. The results demonstrate the need for assessing the characteristics of the definitions to enhance communication and monitoring strategies for large and small-scale flash droughts.

Here we describe a critical link between drought risk management and planning at the local level, the traditional lack of overlap between these fields, and current and future opportunities for addr...

Agricultural production in the U.S. Midwest is vulnerable to drought, and specialty crop producers are an underserved audience for monitoring information and decision-support tools. We investigate the decision-making needs of apple, grape, and cranberry growers using a participatory process to develop crop-specific decision calendars. The process highlights growers’ decisions and information needs during the winter dormant, growing, harvest, and postharvest seasons. Apple, grape, and cranberry growers tend to be concerned with the effects of short-term drought on current crop quality and quantity, while also considering the long-term drought effect on the health of perennial plants and future years’ production. We find gaps in drought information particularly for tactical and strategic decision-making. We describe the use of decision calendars to identify points of entry for existing drought monitoring resources and tools, and to highlight where additional research and tool development is needed. Significance Statement: While drought causes agricultural losses in the U.S. Midwest, more is known about the impacts and decision-support needs of commodity row crop growers in the region than those of perennial specialty crop growers. We find opportunities for climate information providers to tailor drought information delivery to perennial fruit growers according to the season, the parameters that are relevant to their decisions, and the timeframe of information needed for operational, tactical, and strategic decision-making.