This metadata record describes data that characterize low-flow period duration and seasonality, as well as trends and climate linkages at streamgages across the conterminous United States. These data are associated with a publication which looks to answer three questions about low-flow periods in the conterminous United States: (1) how long are these periods and when do they typically start and end, (2) how are these properties changing through time, and (3) how does climate influence these properties? These data include 1145 U.S. Geological Survey streamgages with historical periods from 1951-2020. This data release contains the following:

1) low_flow_characteristics.csv: Annual low-flow period characteristics for selected streamgages, for each climate year from 1951-2020. 2) low_flow_trends.csv: Trends in low-flow period characteristics for selected streamgages, from 1951-2020. 3) climate_trends.csv: Trends in climate variables for selected streamgages related to low-flow periods from 1951-2020. 4) monthly_low_flows.csv: The number of low-flow days in each month for selected streamgages. 5) site_metadata.csv: Metadata for describing each of the selected streamgages. 6) climate_correlations.csv: Correlations between low-flow period characteristics for selected streamgages and climate variables. 7) all_percentiles_1951_2020.zip: A zip file containing all streamflow percentile data used in this analysis.