Abstract: Based on daily temperature and precipitation data of 1114 national and regional weather stations during the period from 1961 to 2017,a town-scale meteorological dataset was generated using the inverse distance squared method of interpolation.The characteristics of drought in Liaoning province during April to August in 2017 were investigated based on meteorological drought comprehensive index (MCI).The results show that abnormal high temperature and lacking of rainfall in spring and summer led to the severe meteorological drought in Liaoning province.The meteorological drought started from the central and northern areas on April 5,and then extended to the western areas at the end of April.Finally,the meteorological drought extended to the southeast of Liaoning in May and June.Statistics analysis showed that 88 percent of the studied towns affected by drought.The drought started to relieve since July.The towns that experienced longer duration of drought were concentrated in the central and northern area of Liaoning and the longest duration of drought was 153 d.Due to high temperature and shortage of rainfall,regions that suffered drought above mid-severe extent were varied with time.Extreme meteorological drought usually accompanied with high temperature.Since there are differences existing between meteorological drought and agricultural drought,the right countermeasures should be taken for agriculture service.

Key words: Refinement, Meteorological drought comprehensive index (MCI), Drought area