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.

Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Gulf Coast Region for June–August 2025. Dated September 2025.

Summer 2025 temperatures were near normal for much of the Gulf Region, with many stations within one degree F of normal. Summer 2025 saw near average rainfall across much of the Region with most stations ranging from 70 percent of 130 percent of normal.

Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Southeast and Caribbean Region for June–August 2025. Dated September 2025.

Given the broad interest and need to better understand and plan for ecological drought in the Southeast, the U.S. Geological Survey's Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS), in support of the Southeast Drought Early Warning System, convened a 2-day workshop in January 2025. This workshop brought together scientists and managers from diverse fields, to address drought and low-flow in the Southeast and its impacts to aquatic systems across the region.

Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Gulf Coast Region for March–May 2025. Dated June 2025.

Spring temperatures were above normal for the entire Gulf Region, with most stations observing 1°F to 5°F above normal. Precipitation was above normal across much of the Gulf Region in spring, with many stations averaging 150% to 300% of normal precipitation in Deep South Texas, Southeast Texas, much of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Southeast and Caribbean Region for March–May 2025. Dated June 2025. (Updated to add Spanish translation of Caribbean information.)

Temperatures were above average across the Southeast, particularly across parts of North Carolina and Virginia, where many locations were 3–5°F above average for the season. Precipitation was above average across much of the Southeast, particularly across Alabama and portions of Georgia and South Carolina, where seasonal totals were more than 10 inches above average in places.

Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Gulf Coast Region for December 2024–February 2025. Dated March 2025.

Winter 2024-2025 temperatures were near normal for much of the Gulf Region, with most stations observing temperatures 2°F below normal to 2°F above normal. Precipitation was below normal in the western and eastern portions of the region and near to slightly above normal in the central portions.

Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Southeast and Caribbean Region for December 2024–February 2025. Dated March 2025. (Updated April 2025 to add Spanish translation of Caribbean information.)

Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Gulf Coast Region for September–November 2024. Dated December 2024.

Fall temperatures were above normal across the Gulf Coast Region with temperatures ranging from 2 °F to 6 °F above normal. Stations in the Texas Panhandle and Central Florida saw 150%–300% of normal precipitation. The precipitation in Florida was associated with multiple tropical systems. Precipitation across Central and Far West Texas was 5%–50% of normal.

Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Southeast and Caribbean Region for September–November 2024. Dated December 2024.  (Updated January 2025 to add Spanish translation of Caribbean information.)