Space-time trends in U.S. meteorological droughts

The paper finds spatial coverage of extreme meteorological drought in the recent years (post-2010) exceeds that of the iconic droughts of the 1930s (the Dust Bowl era), and the 1950s. These results are in contrast with trends in spatial variance that does not exhibit any statistically significant trend. In addition, we find drought persistence remains relatively stationary over the last half century. The findings can inform drought monitoring and planning, and improve future drought resilience.