Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Western Region for September – November 2018.  Dated December 2018.

Above normal minimum temperatures were observed in California, Nevada, and Oregon.  Near to well above normal precipitation was observed across much of the Southwest (Arizona, New Mexico, and southern UT) with an improvement of drought conditions in this area.

Provides a definition of El Nino; potential winter impacts; the outlook for winter temperatures and precipitation; and a look back at previous El Nino winters.

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 at https://www.drought.gov/drought/resources/reports. 

Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Western Region for June – August 2018.  Dated September 2018.

Summer temperatures were near normal across the Inland Northwest and above normal elsewhere in the region, especially in the Southwest. Monsoon precipitation was variable throughout the season, though many Southwest locations ended up with near to slightly above normal precipitation.

Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Western Region for March – May 2018.  Dated June 2018.

Spring precipitation was above normal in a broad swath from central California northeast into Montana.  Well below normal precipitation across much of the Four Corners states; Arizona and New Mexico had their 10th driest spring.

Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Western Region for December 2017 – February 2018. Dated March 2018. 

Temperatures were well above normal in the Southwest: Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, and Nevada all had top-10 warmest December-February on record.  Dry conditions dominated the Southwest as well: California, Nevada, and Utah had bottom-10 driest December-February on record.

Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Western Region for September – November 2017. Dated December 2017.

Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Western Region for June – August 2017. Dated September 2017.  

Warmest summer on record for California and Nevada; second warmest for Oregon, 3rd warmest for Utah, and 4th for Washington and Arizona.  Several locations set record for all-time warmest month in July: Reno, NV, Salt Lake City, UT, and Bakersfield, CA.  Much drier than normal conditions across northern tier of West; Montana had 2nd driest summer on record.  Moderate to exceptional drought conditions developed across Montana.

The PNW DEWS Strategic Plan outlines priority tasks and activities to build drought early warning capacity and resilience. Partners across the region assisted NIDIS, the Pacific Northwest Climate Impacts Research Consortium(link is external) (CIRC, a NOAA RISA team), and the National Drought Mitigation Center (link is external)(NDMC) with the development of this Plan. The Plan includes a list of current partners, outcomes, and key milestones.

Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Western Region for March – May 2017. Dated June 2017.