LAUSR

AbstractClimate change is expected to increase the severity and frequency of drought in the Caribbean. Understanding drought variability and its trends is therefore critical for improving resiliency and adaptation capacity of this region, as well as for assessing the dynamics and predictability of regional hydroclimate across spatial and temporal scales. This work introduces a first of-its-kind high-resolution drought dataset for the Caribbean from 1950 to 2016, using monthly estimates of the “self-calibrating” Palmer Drought Severity Index (scPDSI), with the physically based Penman-Monteith approximation for the potential evapotranspiration. Statistically downscaled data products, including reanalysis, are employed to establish an historical baseline for characterizing drought from 1950 to the near present. Since 1950, the Caribbean was affected by severe droughts in 1974–1977, 1997–1998, 2009–2010, and 2013–2016. Results indicate that the 2013–2016 drought is the most severe event during the time interv...