Browse news articles

There is a growing possibility that an El Niño will be among the strongest influences on weather patterns across the U.S. later this year. What will this mean for drought in the Southern Plains?

The Oceanic Niño Index (ONI) has traditionally been NOAA's official measure, or index, to track the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) climate pattern. In February, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center adopted the Relative Oceanic Niño Index (RONI) to better designate past events and predict future phases of ENSO. RONI accounts for the long-term ocean temperature trends in a way that the traditional ONI does not, thus providing a better representation of the seasonal climate variability. 

NIDIS-supported researchers from the Pacific Drought Knowledge Exchange developed an improved Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), which captures how observed rainfall deviates from the climatological average over a given time period. This product uses high-resolution (250 meter) rainfall maps to produce the gridded SPI product in near-real-time on the Hawai'i Climate Data Portal.

From the catastrophic wildfires in Southern California to record-low streamflow in the Northeast, drought and its impacts touched nearly every corner of the country. The year saw the unusual return of two La Niña events and devastating weather whiplash that brought historic floods to drought-stricken Texas. 2025 showed us that drought is even more devastating when compounded with other climate hazards, such as wildfire and flood. This list breaks down some significant drought-related events of 2025 that made 2025 a year of water extremes across the United States. 

NOAA's National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS), in partnership with the Southern Regional Climate Center (SRCC), conducted a post-drought assessment of the Southern Plains drought of 2020-2025 to understand the drought’s evolution and impacts (including economic costs) and communicate them to decision-makers across the region, the private sector, and the public. 

On December 15–19, the American Geophysical Union (AGU) is hosting its annual meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana. This year, the meeting will focus on the theme, “Where Science Connects Us.”  NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) and partners are excited to present on NIDIS-supported drought research and applications at AGU. 

The 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. 

Actionable, user-friendly, and reliable information is essential for risk-informed decision-making across the Mississippi River Basin. In response to impacts of drought in the region, NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) built a Mississippi River Basin Drought and Water Dashboard. 

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a recurring phenomenon defined by shifts in tropical Pacific Ocean sea surface temperatures, ocean currents, and overlying atmospheric winds.  La Niña conditions are forecast in late 2025 and early 2026, which increases the chances for below-average precipitation and above-average temperatures in the Southwest, Southeast, Southern California, and Texas.

This record-setting Western U.S. drought in the early 2020s, plus the southwestern megadrought dating back to 2000, has left Western U.S. water supplies in a perilous position. NIDIS is launching this special communications effort, running throughout the Water Year 2026 (October 1, 2025–September 30, 2026), to alert economic sectors and the public in the Western U.S. of the risk to water supplies.