They found that the colonists had started Roanoke Colony in the middle of the worst drought in 800 years. (A "drought" is a period of time when there is very little rain.) "This drought persisted for 3 years, from 1587 to 1589, and is the driest 3-year episode in the entire 800-year reconstruction," the team wrote in the journal "Science". The drought happened in all of the southeastern United States. It was worst in the area near Roanoke Island.