The purpose of the Pacific Northwest Water Year 2025 Impacts Assessment is to connect the water year conditions to sector-specific impacts to inform planning, response actions, and technical and scientific information needs. Ultimately, the assessment can be used as a resource for future management of drought and other climate extremes. 

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).

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.

Drought has occurred frequently in the Mid-Atlantic states over the past century. Major droughts occurred in the 1930s, 1940s, 1960s, and 1980s, with several lasting for more than a year. In 2024, heat and a lack of rainfall led to widespread drought across Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia. For some locations, the 2024 drought was the worst the region had experienced in more than two decades.

The purpose of the Pacific Northwest Water Year 2024 Impacts Assessment is to connect the water year conditions to sector-specific impacts to inform planning, response actions, and technical and scientific information needs. Ultimately, the assessment can be used as a resource for future management of drought and other climate extremes. 

Understanding the use cases and value of the U.S. Climate Reference Network (USCRN) soil moisture data is essential to inform future directions for the soil moisture network. In 2023-2024, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) conducted extensive outreach both within and external to NOAA to assess the utilization, value, and potential impacts of downsizing or discontinuing the soil moisture network.

Despite the water-rich nature of the southeastern U.S., extended and intense dry periods intermittently occur across the region leading to reduced soil moisture levels and surface water supplies. These drought periods affect the landscape at different scales, with agriculture experiencing impacts earlier than other sectors

The purpose of the 2023 Pacific Northwest Water Year Impacts Assessment is to summarize the water year conditions and sector impacts as a resource for future management of drought and other climate extremes.

The purpose of the 2022 Pacific Northwest Water Year Impacts Assessment is to summarize the water year conditions and sector impacts as a resource for future management of drought and other climate extremes.

The 2020–2021 drought of the greater U.S. Northern Plains and Canadian Prairies was a multi-billion-dollar event that had wide-reaching impacts on the region’s communities, ecosystems, water resources, and agricultural systems. Building off of the lessons learned from the flash drought of 2017—the last drought to affect the region—the 2020–2021 Drought in the U.S. Northern Plains and Canadian Prairies report advances understanding of drought response and preparedness actions by highlighting new efforts, along with outstanding gaps and needs.