A summary of USGS resources and data related to drought hazards in Wisconsin.
What is a drought?
A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions that results in water-related problems.
Why do droughts occur?
When rainfall is less than normal for several weeks, months, or years, the flow of streams and rivers declines, water levels in lakes and reservoirs fall, and the depth to water in wells increases. If dry weather persists and water-supply problems develop, the dry period can become a drought.
The term "drought" can have different meanings to different people, depending on how a water deficiency affects them. Droughts have been classified into different types such as:
- Meteorological drought - lack of precipitation
- Agricultural drought - lack of soil moisture, or
- Hydrologic drought - reduced streamflow or groundwater levels. This is the type of drought that the USGS measures.
It is not unusual for a given period of water deficiency to represent a more severe drought of one type than another type. For example, a prolonged dry period during the summer may substantially lower the yield of crops due to a shortage of soil moisture in the plant root zone but have little effect on groundwater storage replenished the previous spring.
For information meteorological and agricultural droughts in Wisconsin, visit the National Integrated Drought Information System.
USGS drought data
The USGS monitors streamflow throughout Wisconsin and compares current flow rates to historical levels to identify areas of hydrologic drought. Real-time and historical information on floods in Wisconsin is available through the USGS National Water Information System (NWIS).
A map of Wisconsin gages currently showing below-normal or drought conditions can be found here. You can use the USGS WaterAlert service to receive an email or text alert if a particular streamgage falls below a user-specified gage height or discharge value.
Groundwater levels during drought
The USGS also monitors groundwater levels throughout the state. Shallow aquifers that are closer to the surface are more reliant on local precipitation, and will be the first to be affected by a lack of rainfall. Visit the map of USGS monitoring wells with below-normal groundwater levels to see how drought is affecting groundwater levels in Wisconsin.
- Overview
A summary of USGS resources and data related to drought hazards in Wisconsin.
This map shows the areas of below-normal to extreme hydrological drought conditions during the 2012 drought in Wisconsin. (Screenshot taken from USGS WaterWatch, July 5, 2012) What is a drought?
A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions that results in water-related problems.
Why do droughts occur?
When rainfall is less than normal for several weeks, months, or years, the flow of streams and rivers declines, water levels in lakes and reservoirs fall, and the depth to water in wells increases. If dry weather persists and water-supply problems develop, the dry period can become a drought.
The term "drought" can have different meanings to different people, depending on how a water deficiency affects them. Droughts have been classified into different types such as:
- Meteorological drought - lack of precipitation
- Agricultural drought - lack of soil moisture, or
- Hydrologic drought - reduced streamflow or groundwater levels. This is the type of drought that the USGS measures.
It is not unusual for a given period of water deficiency to represent a more severe drought of one type than another type. For example, a prolonged dry period during the summer may substantially lower the yield of crops due to a shortage of soil moisture in the plant root zone but have little effect on groundwater storage replenished the previous spring.
For information meteorological and agricultural droughts in Wisconsin, visit the National Integrated Drought Information System.
USGS drought data
The USGS monitors streamflow throughout Wisconsin and compares current flow rates to historical levels to identify areas of hydrologic drought. Real-time and historical information on floods in Wisconsin is available through the USGS National Water Information System (NWIS).
A map of Wisconsin gages currently showing below-normal or drought conditions can be found here. You can use the USGS WaterAlert service to receive an email or text alert if a particular streamgage falls below a user-specified gage height or discharge value.
Example chart showing daily groundwater level measurements (blue line) compared to historical daily mean (green). At this site, daily values have been well below the historical mean for the past two years, but have recently started to rebound. Groundwater levels during drought
The USGS also monitors groundwater levels throughout the state. Shallow aquifers that are closer to the surface are more reliant on local precipitation, and will be the first to be affected by a lack of rainfall. Visit the map of USGS monitoring wells with below-normal groundwater levels to see how drought is affecting groundwater levels in Wisconsin.
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