Articles | Volume 29, issue 21
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-6069-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-6069-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
07 Nov 2025
Research article |
| 07 Nov 2025
| 07 Nov 2025
What is a drought-to-flood transition? Pitfalls and recommendations for defining consecutive hydrological extreme events
Bailey J. Anderson
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Davos Dorf, Switzerland
Climate Change, Extremes and Natural Hazards in Alpine Regions Research Center CERC, Davos Dorf, Switzerland
Eduardo Muñoz-Castro
Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Davos Dorf, Switzerland
Climate Change, Extremes and Natural Hazards in Alpine Regions Research Center CERC, Davos Dorf, Switzerland
Lena M. Tallaksen
Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Alessia Matano
Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Jonas Götte
Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Davos Dorf, Switzerland
Climate Change, Extremes and Natural Hazards in Alpine Regions Research Center CERC, Davos Dorf, Switzerland
Rachael Armitage
UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Wallingford, United Kingdom
Eugene Magee
UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Wallingford, United Kingdom
Manuela I. Brunner
Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Davos Dorf, Switzerland
Climate Change, Extremes and Natural Hazards in Alpine Regions Research Center CERC, Davos Dorf, Switzerland
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Cited
10 citations as recorded by crossref.
- Elevated vapor pressure deficit drives compound drought intensification across spatiotemporal scales Y. Pang et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105552
- Evolution of nonstationary hydrological drought characteristics in the UK under warming S. Jha et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-2685-2026
- When floods heal or harm after drought: Three archetypes of maize photosynthetic response to drought‑to‑flood transitions across China P. Li et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2026.110381
- Asymmetry Analysis and Hazard Assessment of Drought–Flood Abrupt Alternation Events in the Yellow River Basin S. Zhou et al. https://doi.org/10.3390/land15050840
- A novel 3D hazard assessment framework for dry-to-wet abrupt alternation events and its application in the Yangtze River Basin, China Z. Huang et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2026.110266
- Hydroclimatic Whiplash Across the Contiguous United States: Characterizing Wet–Dry Transitions in PDSI and PHDI J. Lam & T. Piechota https://doi.org/10.3390/w18131599
- Characterizing low and high flow spells and their temporal transitions using baseflow estimates G. Guimarães et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-4245-2026
- Hydrological response to drought-flood and flood-drought transitions in the Geul River basin, Netherlands S. Hariharan Sudha et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2026.103727
- How extreme are transitions in streamflow? A conditional probability approach B. Anderson et al. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ae6d19
- Intensifying dry-to-wet extremes across Europe: long-term evolution and contrasting impacts on vegetation dynamics H. Chen et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2026.136153
10 citations as recorded by crossref.
- Elevated vapor pressure deficit drives compound drought intensification across spatiotemporal scales Y. Pang et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105552
- Evolution of nonstationary hydrological drought characteristics in the UK under warming S. Jha et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-2685-2026
- When floods heal or harm after drought: Three archetypes of maize photosynthetic response to drought‑to‑flood transitions across China P. Li et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2026.110381
- Asymmetry Analysis and Hazard Assessment of Drought–Flood Abrupt Alternation Events in the Yellow River Basin S. Zhou et al. https://doi.org/10.3390/land15050840
- A novel 3D hazard assessment framework for dry-to-wet abrupt alternation events and its application in the Yangtze River Basin, China Z. Huang et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2026.110266
- Hydroclimatic Whiplash Across the Contiguous United States: Characterizing Wet–Dry Transitions in PDSI and PHDI J. Lam & T. Piechota https://doi.org/10.3390/w18131599
- Characterizing low and high flow spells and their temporal transitions using baseflow estimates G. Guimarães et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-4245-2026
- Hydrological response to drought-flood and flood-drought transitions in the Geul River basin, Netherlands S. Hariharan Sudha et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2026.103727
- How extreme are transitions in streamflow? A conditional probability approach B. Anderson et al. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ae6d19
- Intensifying dry-to-wet extremes across Europe: long-term evolution and contrasting impacts on vegetation dynamics H. Chen et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2026.136153
Saved (final revised paper)
Latest update: 25 Aug 2026
Short summary
When floods happen during or shortly after droughts, the impacts of each of the events can be magnified. In hydrological research, defining these events represents a challenging and important task in the process of understanding where and why they occur. We have used real-word examples to address some of these challenges and show different approaches influence outcomes. We make suggestions on when to use which approach and outline some pitfalls of which researchers should be aware.
When floods happen during or shortly after droughts, the impacts of each of the events can be...
