The Western U.S. Drought: How Bad Is It?

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Print Version (219399 bytes) EOS, TRANSACTIONS AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION, VOL. 85, NO. 32, doi:10.1029/2004EO320001, 2004 The Western U.S. Drought: How Bad Is It? Thomas Piechota University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA Janek Timilsena University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA Glenn Tootle University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA Hugo Hidalgo Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California, USA Abstract Historical stream flow records and the forecast for 2004 make the current (lpar;1999–2004) drought in the southwestern United States the worst one in the past 80 years for portions of the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB). For the Colorado River (near Cisco, Utah), the cumulative stream flow deficit (departure from long term mean) for the current drought is almost 11 km³, or approximately 2 years of average stream flow. Although the current drought is the most significant, based on stream flow records, is it the worst ever? Published 10 August 2004. Index Terms: 1812 Hydrology: Drought; 1833 Hydrology: Hydroclimatology. Print Version (219399 bytes) Citation: Piechota, T., J. Timilsena, G. Tootle, and H. Hidalgo (2004), The Western U.S. Drought: How Bad Is It?, Eos Trans. AGU, 85(32), doi:10.1029/2004EO320001. Copyright 2004 by the American Geophysical Union.