Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Western Region for September–November 2022. Dated December 2022.

This handout provides information on the typical La Niña winter pattern; the La Niña outlook; potential winter and spring impacts; and comparisons of conditions during previous La Niña years for the Missouri River Basin region. Updated November 2022.

NOAA’s Regional Climate Services Program created these outlooks to inform the public about climate impacts within their respective regions. Each regional report contains easy-to-understand language, and anyone can access them through the Drought Portal.

Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Western Region for June–August 2022. Dated September 2022.

Temperatures were above normal across the entire West with many long-term stations in the top five warmest summers on record. Most of the West saw near-normal or above-normal precipitation this summer.

This study, published in WIREs Water, volume 9, issue 3, was funded by NIDIS through the FY 2022 Coping with Drought research competition. 

Learn more about this research: Developing Drought Impact Models for the Intermountain West Drought Early Warning System.

Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Missouri River Basin for June–August 2022. Dated September 2022.

Temperatures were above normal for the majority of the Missouri River Basin, with the greatest departures in the western parts of Kansas and Nebraska. Precipitation was above normal in Colorado and parts of Wyoming due to the Southwest Monsoon, while other isolated pockets of near-normal precipitation were present in the basin. Much of Kansas and Nebraska were well below normal, resulting in the intensification of drought conditions in those states.