Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for Alaska and Northwestern Canada for September–November 2025, with an outlook for January–March 2026. Dated December 2025.
ECCC, NOAA, and partners created these outlooks to inform the public about recent impacts within their respective regions. Each regional report contains easy-to-understand language, and anyone can access them through the U.S. Drought Portal.
Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Great Lakes Region for September–November 2025. Dated December 2025.
Fall air temperatures averaged out to be near or above normal. Fall was drier than normal for most areas. Dry conditions led to greater than average declines on all lakes from the start of September to the end of November. In the period of record (1900-present), Lake Michigan-Huron experienced its 8th largest decline and Lake Erie had its 13th largest decline in water levels for fall.
Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Gulf of Maine Region for September–November 2025. Dated December 2025.
Autumn featured near- to above-normal temperatures, ranking among the 10 warmest autumns for several Maritimes sites including Moncton, N.B.; Halifax, N.S.; and Summerside, P.E.I. Below- to near-normal precipitation fueled intense drought conditions that resulted in many impacts, particularly on water resources and agriculture.
Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Pacific Region for September–November 2025. Dated December 2025.
NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) and Physical Sciences Laboratory are partnering with the California State Climatologist/California Department of Water Resources, NOAA’s National Weather Service and National Centers for Environmental Information, and the California-Nevada Adaptation Program (a NOAA CAP team) on the Sector-Specific Drought Early Warning Outlook – Southern California Pilot.
This report, Facing Future Droughts: Lessons from the Southeast’s 2023 Fall Flash Drought, was developed to improve the monitoring, communication, and response to drought in the Southeastern United States, with a specific focus on flash drought. The 2019 flash drought exposed critical gaps in early warning and monitoring systems, sparking conversations that continued during the 2022 Southeast Drought Early Warning System (DEWS) Regional Meeting.
In March 2020, Moderate to Severe Drought (D1-D2) intensified rapidly to Exceptional Drought (D4) along the lower Rio Grande in Texas, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Over the next five years, drought severity waxed and waned across the Southern Plains, shifting location and extent but never leaving the region. Drought touched the lives of nearly every resident of the Southern Plains states (Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas).
Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Mid-Atlantic Region for June–August 2025. Dated September 2025.
Average temperatures for the 2025 summer season were a bit above normal (0-4 degrees) across the region. This was due to warmer than normal temperatures in late June and July followed by a cooler than normal August. Precipitation varied across the watershed,some locations saw precipitation significantly above normal in June and July then dropping to drier, below normal conditions in August.
Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Southern Region for June–August 2025. Dated September 2025.
Summer 2025 temperatures were near normal for the western portions of the Southern Region, while temperatures in the eastern half of the Region were above normal. Summer 2025 saw below average rainfall in the eastern portions of the Region and along the upper Texas coast. Precipitation was well above normal for Central Texas, much of North Texas, northern Oklahoma, Western Arkansas, and Far West Texas.
Focusing on the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center’s (CPC) long-term Seasonal Drought Outlook, this William M. Lapenta NOAA student internship project aimed to address the complexities of communicating uncertainty and provide recommendations on improving communications to best support agricultural producers. This project focused on the process of communicating outlooks to the agricultural sector through the lens of agricultural intermediaries, such as agricultural extension staff and state climatologists.