This paper illustrates an alternative approach to estimating the occurrence of drought. The empirical Bayes methodology was developed because of deficiencies in time-series and regression analysis with respect to prediction of drought. This manuscript is comprised of (a) a discussion of "classical" and Bayes estimators of probability density (or mass) functions, (b) a description of the model, and (c) a comparison of the performances of the empirical Bayes and two classical estimators in predicting the elapsed time until drought. The Bayes value (incorporating both a priori and data information) was found to be superior to the traditional estimates.
