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The moist periods with high precipitation and periods of atmospheric droughts are a potential great hazard to the functioning of ecosystems and different sectors of the national economy in the Lublin region. Therefore, a recognition of time variability of these atmospheric phenomena and the conditions of their occurrence are the main aims of this paper.

The analysis of the precipitation‐free periods was based on the meteorological data from the years 1951‐2009 recorded in the Meteorological Observatory of the Maria Curie‐Skłodowska University in Lublin. Main hydrological data concerning dynamics of groundwater table and surface water table came from the measurement network of the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management.

Very long precipitation‐free periods, lasting over 20 days, appeared only seven times – once a year in 1953, 1956, 1959, 1971, 1983, and twice in 2000. Since the 1980s, the number of precipitation‐free periods has been decreasing parallel to the higher frequency of downpours and increasing annual precipitation totals. In the years 1981‐1994, the following phenomena were observed in the Lublin region: decrease of river mean discharges, groundwater‐table lowering, lowering of lake surfaces, disappearance of springs, and the shortening of the upper reaches of rivers. However, replenishment of water resources and more frequent meteorological extreme events have been recorded in the Lublin region since the second half of the 1990s. Therefore, local flood and inundations have occurred, and flood hazard in larger river valleys has increased.

Examination of time variability of these atmospheric phenomena and conditions of their occurrence should contribute to the development of effective ways and techniques of management of water resources in the regional economy in order to reduce economic losses.