Drought Monitor records a slowdown in the phenomenon in the three southern states

The latest update from the Drought Monitor, for October, points to the easing of the drought in the three southern states, due to above-average rainfall in the period. Follow the situation in Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina below.

In Paraná, between September and October, the drought area remained stable at 98% of the state. In terms of severity, the area with severe drought fell significantly from 66% to 35% due to above-normal rainfall. This is the best condition of the phenomenon in Paraná since March 2021, when 19% of the state experienced severe drought.

Rio Grande do Sul, between September and October, maintained 100% of its territory in drought, a condition that has remained for 13 consecutive months: since October 2020. The phenomenon eased with the slight retreat of the area with extreme drought, which fell from 2% to 1% of the state's territory due to above-normal rainfall in the northwest of Rio Grande do Sul.

In Santa Catarina, extreme drought fell from 12% to 8% of the state, in the west of Santa Catarina, while the area with severe drought fell from 25% to 13% of the territory, in the central region, between September and October, causing a slowdown in the phenomenon. In the east of Santa Catarina, areas with weak drought became free from the phenomenon. Despite the improvement in conditions, Santa Catarina had the highest percentage of extreme drought among the Southern states and, therefore, the most severe condition of the phenomenon. On the other hand, the territory of Santa Catarina recorded the lowest percentage of area with drought in the South: 78%.

Considering the four regions monitored by the Drought Monitor, the South had the second lowest severity of the phenomenon in October, with 2% of extreme drought. Only the Northeast had a better condition, as the highest degree of severity was severe drought in 11% of its territory. The most severe conditions were recorded in the Southeast and Central-West, which had respectively 8% and 1% of areas with exceptional drought – the most severe on the Monitor scale – in the last month.

In October of this year, compared to September, in terms of severity of the drought, 11 states saw a slowdown in the phenomenon in October: Bahia, Espírito Santo, Goiás, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Piauí, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, São Paulo and Tocantins. Between September and October, all 21 Federation units monitored by Drought Monitor recorded the phenomenon simultaneously.

In the opposite direction, seven states had an intensification of drought in the period: Alagoas, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Norte and Sergipe. In three other units of the Federation, the severity of the phenomenon remained stable: Ceará, Distrito Federal and Maranhão. Considering the four regions fully monitored by the Drought Monitor, the greatest severity observed in October occurred in the Southeast, which registered 8% of exceptional drought – the most severe on the Monitor scale. The Northeast had the lowest severity in October and was the only region to have no record of extreme drought or exceptional drought.

Between September and October, only Alagoas recorded an expansion of the drought area. On the other hand, the area with the phenomenon decreased in five other states: Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Piauí, Rio de Janeiro and Santa Catarina. In the other 15 Federation units monitored by the Monitor, there was no variation in the territory experiencing drought: Bahia, Ceará, Distrito Federal, Goiás, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraíba, Paraná, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Norte, Rio Grande do Sul, São Paulo, Sergipe and Tocantins. Considering the breakdown by region, the Southeast and South had a reduction in the area with drought from 99% to 96%. In the Central-West and Northeast, the territory with the phenomenon remained stable respectively at levels of 93% and 89%.

In 11 units of the Federation, 100% of their territories registered drought in October: Bahia, Ceará, Federal District, Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraíba, Rio Grande do Norte, Rio Grande do Sul, São Paulo, Sergipe and Tocantins. The remaining ten states monitored by the Monitor present between 53,9% and 98,7% of their areas with the phenomenon, and for percentages above 99%, all territories with drought are considered.

Based on the territory of each Federation unit monitored, Mato Grosso leads the total area with drought, followed by Minas Gerais, Bahia, Mato Grosso do Sul and Goiás.

The Monitor continuously monitors the degree of severity of droughts in Brazil based on indicators of the phenomenon and the impacts caused in the short and/or long term. Short-term impacts are for recent rainfall deficits of up to six months. Beyond this period, the impacts are long-term. This tool has been used to help implement public policies to combat drought and can be accessed via the website monitordesecas.ana.gov.br and through the Drought Monitor application, available free of charge for mobile devices with Android and iOS systems.

With an increasingly national presence, the Monitor covers the five regions of Brazil, which includes the nine states in the Northeast, the three in the South, the four in the Southeast, the three in the Center-West with the Federal District, in addition to Tocantins . The expansion process will continue until it reaches all 27 units of the Federation.

The Drought Monitor is coordinated by the National Water and Sanitation Agency (ANA), with the support of the Cearense Foundation for Meteorology and Water Resources (FUNCEME), and developed jointly with several state and federal institutions linked to the areas of climate and water resources. , who work on authoring and validating the maps. The institutions that work in the Drought Monitor in their respective states are the following:

• PARANÁ: Water and Land Institute (IAT) and the Paraná Environmental Technology and Monitoring System (SIMEPAR);
• RIO GRANDE DO SUL: State Secretariat for the Environment and Infrastructure (SEMA);
• SANTA CATARINA: Executive Secretariat for the Environment (SEMA) of the State Secretariat for Sustainable Economic Development (SDE).