PDSI Index - Current situation - December 2024

According to the PDSI index, there was an increase in the area in meteorological drought, which extended to the entire southern region and some districts in the centre (Lisbon, Santarém and Setúbal). Also noteworthy is the increase in intensity in the southern coastal region (Alentejo and Western Algarve), which is in the moderate drought class.

In terms of percentage distribution by classes of the PDSI index on the mainland, at the end of December there was:

• 1.1 % in the light rain class
• 44.1 % in the normal class
• 45.7 % in the weak drought class
• 8.9 % in the moderate drought class
• 0.2 % in the severe drought class.

Drought monitoring

• Summary and about

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PDSI Index (Palmer Drought Severity Index) was developed by Palmer (1965) and implemented and calibrated for mainland Portugal (Pires, 2003).

This index is based on the concept of the water balance taking into account data on the amount of precipitation, air temperature and available water capacity in the soil and allows the detection of periods of drought by classifying them in terms of intensity (weak, moderate, severe and extreme).

Last 12 month evolution