Droughts and Persistent Wet Spells over the United States and Mexico

Abstract

Abstract Droughts and persistent wet spells over the United States and northwest Mexico have preferred regions of occurrence and persistence. Wet or dry conditions that persist more than 1 yr tend to occur over the interior United States west of 90°–95°W and northwest Mexico. In contrast, events over the eastern United States are less likely to occur and often last less than 6 months. The long persistent drought and wet spells are often modulated by low-frequency sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTAs). The persistent dry or wet conditions over northwest Mexico and the Southwest are associated with decadal variability of SSTAs over the North Pacific. Persistent events over the northwestern mountains are associated with two decadal SSTA modes. One mode has loadings over three southern oceans and another one is an El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) like decadal mode. Wet and dry conditions over the Pacific Northwest and the Great Plains are often associated with ENSO. The seasonal cycle of precipitation over the central-eastern United States, the East Coast, and the Ohio Valley is weak. Drought and wet spells over these regions are less persistent because the ENSO events have opposite impacts on precipitation for summer and winter.