Under intensifying global warming, drought events have become increasingly severe and frequent. Accurate assessment of drought severity, efficient monitoring of drought distribution characteristics, and investigation of spatiotemporal evolution patterns are critical for timely drought management and the formulation of evidence-based mitigation strategies. Focusing on the Yangtze River Basin, the temperature-precipitation-vegetation dryness index (TPVDI), a comprehensive drought index derived from the spatial Euclidean distance integration of the temperature condition index (TCI), precipitation condition index (PCI), and vegetation condition index (VCI) was innovatively developed. The coefficient of variation (CV) method, Theil-Sen Median trend analysis coupled with Mann-Kendall significance testing, and Hurst exponent analysis were systematically applied to reveal the spatiotemporal dynamics of drought from 2001 to 2019. Key findings included that TPVDI demonstrated robust performance in monitoring meteorological, agricultural, and comprehensive droughts, showing significant correlations with SPEI-12, TVDI, and PA (-0.4916, 0.4299, and -0.3985, respectively;all statistically significant at p<0.05). Over the 19-year period, the basin predominantly experienced no drought or mild drought conditions. Severe drought areas exhibited cyclical north-south migration every 3~5 years. Drought variability was dominated by low (34.55%) and moderate fluctuations (24.22%), with an overall wetting trend observed. Persistent drought patterns characterized 81.43% of the basin, with 65.18% of areas projected to experience weakening drought trends, while 16.25% (primarily in the Yangtze River Delta, Hunan Province, and near the Jinsha River) face intensifying drought risks. The TPVDI overcame the limitations of single-factor monitoring, enabling synergistic drought perception through multi-source data integration, and established a novel methodological framework for basin-scale drought monitoring.