Dear Authors
after reading the comments of the two reviewers, as well as your detailed responses, I concluded that some of the concerns raised during the review process need to be addressed before considering the paper for publication.

Specifically, I strongly suggest the authors to revisit the text in order to better highlight the value of the outcomes of the study for the scientific community, as well as to further highlight and expand the connection of the study with the topic of the special issue.

I'm confident that you will be able to significantly improve these aspects of your research, and that the paper will gain a lot from the reviewers' valuable suggestions.

Best regards, Carmelo Cammalleri

Dear Authors
We have finally received a sufficient number of reviews. As you can see, there are still some minor concerns related to the matching between the content of the paper and the title.

I overall agree with the reviewer on that, especially given the expected inclusion of the paper as part of a special issue on drought. However, I'm confident that the authors can make a last additional effort to better highlight the relevance of the study for the community of drought researches.

I'm looking forward to receiving your revised manuscript for a final decision on its publications.

Best regards,

Carmelo Cammalleri

Guest editor of NHESS for the special issue "Recent advances in drought and water scarcity monitoring, modelling, and forecasting (EGU2019, session HS4.1.1/NH1.31)"

Dear Authors
Thanks for taking care of the minor concerns of our review. I'm now glad to inform you that the paper has been approved for publication.

Best regards,

Carmelo Cammalleri

Guest Editor for NHESS as part of the Special Issue "Recent advances in drought and water scarcity monitoring, modelling, and forecasting (EGU2019, session HS4.1.1/NH1.31)"