Monitoring Agricultural Drought in Mainland Portugal - Monitoring and Predicting Agricultural Drought: A Global Study - page 182

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Figure 14.1 Climate index identifying drought-prone areas in Portugal during the 1961-90
period.

precipitation and temperature (minimum and maximum) reveal that warm
and dry summers are more pronounced in the southern regions. This type of
climate presents several drawbacks to agriculture, the major one being in-
sufficient rainfall during the summer or spring seasons (Pinto and Brand ao,
2002). Most of the rainfall occurs during winter season, from November
until March. The majority of soils in Portugal are badly drained and suffer
from water logging during the rainy season. A significant decrease in spring
precipitation has been observed for last two decades.