Hot Extremes and Climatological Drought Indicators in the Transitional Semiarid-Subtropical Region of Sinaloa, Northwest Mexico

Abstract

The main goal of this study was to explore the historical and recent spatial concurrence between the frequency (F), duration (D) and intensity (I) of hot extremes (HEs) and the frequency and evolution of meteorological drought in the region of Sinaloa. Based on the values of daily maximum temperature (Tmax) and precipitation obtained from CLImate COMputing for the interval April–October of a historical period (1963–2000) and a recent period (1982–2014), the HE and the standardized precipitation index (SPI) were calculated on one-month (SPI-1) and four-month (SPI-4) timescales. Spearman rank correlation coefficients (Sr) were used to obtain the significant concurrences (SCs) between HEs and SPI-1, and HEs and SPI-4. El Quelite weather station showed the highest historical SCs between HEs and SPI-1 (−0.66≤Sr≤−0.57). Jaina is the only station that showed SCs with all four indicators of HEs and SPI-4 (−0.47≤Sr≤−0.34). In this study, the concurrence between HEs and SPI-1, and HEs and SPI-4 was determined for the first time. These are phenomena that can decrease the crop yield, particularly for rainfed crops such as maize, sesame and sorghum in the region commonly known as “the breadbasket of Mexico”.