Droughts are among Canada’s costliest natural disasters, having major impacts on a wide range of sectors including agriculture, forestry, industry, municipalities, recreation and aquatic ecosystems. The 1999 – 2005 Canadian Prairie drought was the worst drought in at least 100 years in parts of the region and caused considerable environmental and economic hardship. Although much is known about droughts, there is still no complete understanding of why they occur. The Drought Research Initiative Network brings together many university and federal/provincial government researchers to study various aspects of drought. This proposed project will contribute to the Network by gathering and analyzing data to help identify the factors that contributed to the initiation, persistence and termination of the 1999 – 2005 Canadian Prairie drought.