By Kenneth Martin

What is a drought?

A drought is a period of abnormally dry weather which persists long enough to produce a serious hydrologic imbalance (for example crop damage, water supply shortage, etc.) The severity of the drought depends upon the degree of moisture deficiency, the duration and the size of the affected area.

There are four different ways that drought can be defined:

Meteorological - a measure of departure of precipitation from normal. Due to climatic differences what is considered a drought in one location may not be a drought in another location.
Agricultural - refers to a situation when the amount of moisture in the soil no longer meets the needs of of a particular crop.
Hydrological - occurs when surface and subsurface water supplies are below normal.
Socioeconomic- refers to the situation that occurs when physical water shortage begins to affect people.

Lack of rainfall for an extended period of time can bring farmers and major metropolitan areas to their knees. It does not take very long; a few rain-free weeks spreads panic and shrivels crops. We are told to stop washing our cars, cease watering the grass and take other water conservation steps. Continued sunshine without sufficient rain can turn a rain forest into a desert; so maybe sunny weather is not always the best weather.