A drilling method includes assigning values to behaviors of drilling parameters during a drilling operation; forming multiple parameter signatures, each of the parameter signatures comprising a respective combination of the values; comparing the parameter signatures to multiple event signatures, each of the event signatures being indicative of a respective drilling event; and controlling the drilling operation in response to at least a partial match resulting from comparing the parameter signatures to the event signatures. Another method includes defining an event signature comprising a unique combination of a behavior of each of multiple drilling parameters, the event signature being indicative of a drilling event; accessing data from each of multiple sensors which sense the respective drilling parameters during a drilling operation; determining multiple parameter signature segments from the respective sensed drilling parameters; combining the parameter signature segments, thereby forming a parameter signature; and comparing the parameter signature to the event signature.