North Central U.S. Climate and Drought Outlook Special Webinar

Welcome to the North Central U.S. Climate and Drought Outlook Special Webinar

Speaker: Molly Woloszyn, NOAA's National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS), Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES)

• We are having this special webinar today due to the recent dry and hot conditions across the north central U.S., to discuss how those conditions have impacted the region and also to take a look at the outlooks throughout the end of the summer. 
• This webinar is in addition to the regular monthly webinar, which is still scheduled for Thursday, August 19 at 1 p.m. Central. Register here for this upcoming webinar.

North Central U.S. Climate and Drought Outlook

Speaker: Dennis Todey, USDA Midwest Climate Hub 

• Summary of conditions: It has been mostly warmer than average to the north and west, with cooler temperatures to the south and east. It has been generally dry in the Plains, with a little recent improvement in some areas for drought. In general, the eastern part of the Midwest is generally good.
• Drought issues persist in the Northern Plains with smaller pockets elsewhere.
• There are various water issues to be aware of, particularly in the west (e.g., livestock ponds, streamflow). Fire and smoke are a problem in many areas.
• Outlooks: The August outlook is mostly warmer, and western areas are likely to be drier. Eastern areas have mixed signals but will likely be better overall.
• Drought should persist and possibly expand into the Central Plains (southern South Dakota, Nebraska). 

Questions and Answers

• Access future climate webinars on Drought.gov.
• The recording from this webinar will be available at https://mrcc.illinois.edu/multimedia/webinars.jsp and https://hprcc.unl.edu/webinars.php, as well as the NIDIS YouTube channel.