PDSI Index - Current situation - July 2024

According to the PDSI index, at the end of July there was an increase in the intensity of meteorological drought in the southern region, with the districts of Faro, Beja, Évora, Setúbal and Portalegre in the moderate meteorological drought class. The area in the severe drought class increased in the Algarve and Beja districts.

In terms of percentage distribution by class of the PDSI index in mainland Portugal, at the end of July there were:

•     2.5 % in the moderate rainfall class
•     8.8 % in the light rain class
•     29.2 % in the normal class
•     19.1 % in the weak drought class
•     1.2 % in the moderate drought class
•     9.2 % 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