The 1986 Southeast Drought in Historical Perspective

Abstract

The dry and hat weather in the southeast United States during the first seven months of 1986 caused record drought. The agricultural and hydrological perspectives of this drought are examined via a climatological time series. Late nineteenth and twentieth century climate data from the most severely affected areas indicate that from an agricultural perspective the beginning and middle of the 1986 growing season was by far the worst on record. On the other hand, from a hydrological perspective the drought was not of sufficient duration to stand out as such an extreme anomaly. The 1986 drought is part of a change in recent years from the wet weather of the 1960s and much of the 1970s. At this time, there is no evidence to suggest that this change is anything more than another in a series of climate fluctuations typical throughout the climate records of many areas.