Drought's Grip on Romania: A Tale of Two Indices

In this study, we have created a 172-year drought catalogue for Romania (1852–2023) by combining long-term meteorological records, documentary sources and two drought indices: the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI), respectively. The SPEI analysis highlights increasing dryness, especially in southern and eastern areas, driven by higher potential evapotranspiration and rising air temperatures since the 1990s, whereas SPI shows little change in precipitation-based droughts. Five major drought-rich periods emerged—1866–1867, 1918–1920, 1947–1948, 2000–2001 and 2019–2022—with the first and last being the most severe. These events exhibit notable regional differences, largely shaped by the Carpathian Mountains, as stations in the south and east endure longer and more intense droughts. Documentary evidence further contextualises these episodes, revealing their social and economic impacts. The resultant long-term drought atlas for Romania extends beyond existing data products, enhancing drought risk assessments and informing future adaptation strategies.