Everyone could recall seeing rain on the horizon but not getting rain on their property.
Why Spotty Rain?
Spotty Rain is a place to wonder about the relationship between people (land and livelihood) and water (rain and groundwater) in times of drought. We hope you use this website to learn more about drought, weather, and climate in your area. Long term droughts greatly impact the rural communities and the livelihood, agricultural practices, and the land management of ranchers and farmers. I was there in 2014 to witness severe drought and collect stories from agriculturalists in Cimarron County, OK and Union County, NM.
In periods of extended drought, the spatial variability of precipitation (that it is spotty!) is a practical barrier to individual farm management and decision-making and a technical barrier to community-level planning. Volunteer drought monitors (citizens like you!) provide precipitation and condition reports that scientists can use to better predict where and when devastating droughts may occur.
You know a lot about your land, the weather, and how to get by in droughthy times. Please join your neighbors in by becoming a Drought Monitor.
In periods of extended drought, the spatial variability of precipitation (that it is spotty!) is a practical barrier to individual farm management and decision-making and a technical barrier to community-level planning. Volunteer drought monitors (citizens like you!) provide precipitation and condition reports that scientists can use to better predict where and when devastating droughts may occur.
You know a lot about your land, the weather, and how to get by in droughthy times. Please join your neighbors in by becoming a Drought Monitor.
Acknowledgments
This website has generously been funded by a National Science Foundation (NSF) SEES Fellowship (SMA-1415368) and NSF Advancements in Informal STEM Learning project (DRL-1811506) awarded to Oklahoma State University. Any opinion, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this website are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.
Many thanks to collaborators and mentors Jacqueline Vadjunec & Todd Fagin from National Science Foundation project (#CMMI-1266381) "Land System Vulnerability and Resilience to Drought: A Multi-Scale, Comparative Analysis of Public and Private Lands in the American West."
Many thanks to collaborators and mentors Jacqueline Vadjunec & Todd Fagin from National Science Foundation project (#CMMI-1266381) "Land System Vulnerability and Resilience to Drought: A Multi-Scale, Comparative Analysis of Public and Private Lands in the American West."