There are many layers to drought that can’t be solved with one wet week. While creeks, streams, rivers and lakes see at least some rise in levels, the soil takes MUCH longer to rebound. It takes a while for water to soak into the ground when it rains.
What happens when it rains during a drought?
A light rain shower might cause the grass and plants to green up. But if that water quickly evaporates into the air or is soaked up by plants, the drought relief doesn’t last long. A thunderstorm can bring lots of rain into a region, but often the rain comes so quickly that it goes into sewers and ditches instead of soaking into the soil.
Another common question is “How can a drought be ended?”.
The only way a drought can really end is with enough regular soaking rains or significant snow. Rains that soak into the soil can replenish the groundwater. Groundwater provides water to plants and can refill streams during non-rainy periods.
Why are droughts so bad?
Drought also creates large amount of dust. Dust in agricultural areas is full of toxic chemicals used to fertilize soil or rid it of pests.
Groundwater provides water to plants and can refill streams during non-rainy periods. One soaking rain may help improve drought conditions. However, multiple soaking rains over several months are needed to truly return things to normal. How do we monitor droughts? One way to monitor droughts is from weather satellites in space.
Because drought is defined as a deficit in water supply, it can be caused by a number of factors. The most important one though relates to the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere as this is what creates precipitation. More rain, sleet, hail, and snow can occur where there are moist, low-pressure air systems.
Meteorological droughts occur when dry weather patterns dominate an area. Hydrological droughts refer to when low water supply becomes evident in the water systemAgricultural droughts happen when crops become affected by drought. Socioeconomic droughts occur when the supply and demand of various commodities is affected by drought., and more items.
They are: Meteorological drought – that is caused by shortage of precipitation or rainfall. Agricultural drought – that is caused by lack of moisture in the soil. Hydrological drought – that is caused by low levels of water in various water sources like rivers, lakes, etc. Socioeconomic drought – that is caused by shortage of tap and drinking water.
What happens if there is no rain for a few weeks?
For example, a few weeks without rain could stress a farmer’s crops during the growing season. This is called a flash drought. But it could take a much longer dry period to see a full drought that would affect a region’s water supply.