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NOAA Drought Seminar Series
The NOAA Drought Seminar Series is a recurring monthly event dedicated to drought monitoring, prediction, and predictability. The seminar's primary objective is to establish a focused platform where national drought research, operational, and user communities can exchange the latest tools, research findings, and risk reduction activities.
A collaborative effort between NOAA Research's Physical Sciences Laboratory, the National Integrated Drought Information System, and the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center, this series aims to enhance NOAA's capability to monitor, predict, and understand drought behavior.
Drought is a key part of NOAA Research's science priorities aimed at confronting the challenges of a changing planet. It also is a key focus of National Weather Service operational forecast products and services, supporting stakeholder decision-making and reducing drought-related costs and impacts.
Each session will feature a speaker presentation, a question and answer period with the presenter, and general updates on activities within the drought science and services community.
The NOAA Drought Seminar series is generally held on the first or second Monday of each month at 1pm Eastern Time (UTC -4). Days and times may differ pending speaker availability.
Next seminar
Abstract
Vegetation naturally occurring across the landscape and vegetation planted in built environments from landscaping is stored energy for fire. This is depicted in global fire danger rating systems as fuels. Vegetation drying via soil moisture and atmospheric evaporative demand increases fire potential. While this drying establishes an underlying background condition, significant wildfire activity for a given season is dependent on other factors including the type of fuel (grasses versus timber), weather (the extent of heat waves and windy conditions), and topography (the classic fire behavior triangle). A wildfire season is nuanced in its relationship with drought. Did drought enable fine fuel (grass) availability or inhibit its growth? Was a snowpack drought mitigated by spring rains or a lack of summer heatwaves? Did plant evapotranspiration increase fuel flammability even though soil moisture was normal? This presentation explores drought and its relation to fire given our current understanding from research and practitioner knowledge.
Biography
Dr. Tim Brown is a Research Professor at the Desert Research Institute and Director of the Western Regional Climate Center. He is a co-PI for the NIDIS Drought and Wildland Fire Nexus.
Upcoming Schedule
The following are the planned drought seminars. Times, dates, and presenters subject to change.
| Date/Time | Presenter | Affiliation | Presentation Topic/Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| August 10, 2026 • 1pm ET | Tim Brown | Desert Research Institute and Western Regional Climate Center | Exploring Drought in the Wildfire – An Introduction |
| September 14, 2026 • 1pm ET | Michael Anderson | State of California - Department of Water Resources | Drought, El Niño, and California |
| October 19, 2026 • 1pm ET | Amir Aghakouchak | University of California, Irvine | Current gaps and opportunities in drought science and services |
Past seminars
| Date | Presenter | Affiliation | Presentation Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| July 13, 2026 | Jeffrey Basara | Department of Environmental, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at University of Massachusetts Lowell | The Ever-Present and Growing Threat of Flash Drought in an Accelerating Hydroclimate More info and recording |
| June 8, 2026 | Dan McEvoy | Desert Research Institute and Western Regional Climate Center | Progress and Challenges on Understanding Snow Droughts in the Western United States. More info and recording |
| May 11, 2026 | Jon Gottschalck | Operational Prediction Branch, NOAA Climate Prediction Center (CPC) | CPC operational drought services: Overview of monitoring and prediction products, outlook verification, Impact-Based Decision Support Services (IDSS) activities and ongoing developmental efforts. More info and recording |
| April 13, 2026 | Richard Seager | Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University | Pathways of ongoing aridification in southwest North America: Linkages across seasons in the ocean-atmosphere-land system. More info and recording |
- Seminar Organizers
- Andrew Hoell, Research Meteorologist, NOAA/OAR Physical Sciences Laboratory
- Hailan Wang, Meteorologist, NOAA National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center
- Veva Deheza, Executive Director, NOAA/OAR/CPO National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS)
