The U.S. just had its hottest summer on record. Drought still spread across 59% of the country
The contiguous U.S. set a summer heat record while drought coverage jumped more than 10 percentage points in a month, leaving a large part of the country facing a dry-season problem that NOAA expects to persist in several regions.
A heat record and a fast-moving drought map
Meteorological summer—June through August—was the warmest in the contiguous U.S. record, NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information said. The average temperature was 74.4°F, 3.0°F above the 20th-century average. August itself was the warmest August in the 132-year record, at 75.6°F, or 3.5°F above average. ncei
The same report shows why a heat headline alone misses the immediate risk: on September 1, drought covered 59.1% of the contiguous U.S., up about 10.5 percentage points from early August. August precipitation averaged 2.30 inches, 0.32 inch below the 20th-century average and within the driest third of the record. ncei
The national number hides sharp regional contrasts
Drought expanded or intensified across the northern Plains, parts of the Upper Midwest, the southern Plains, the Lower Mississippi Valley and the Deep South. The Southwest, Southeast and Mid-Atlantic saw drought contract or ease in some areas. That uneven pattern matters: the national percentage is a snapshot of area, not a forecast that every community is equally dry. ncei
The month also brought its opposite. Indiana and Ohio had their wettest August on record, while Texas and Oklahoma received less than 30% of their average August precipitation. California had its fifth-driest summer on record, with 0.20 inch of rain—26% of its average. ncei
What NOAA expects next
NOAA’s September outlook calls for drought to persist across parts of the Great Basin, Northwest, northern Plains and Upper Midwest, with further development likely from the southern and central Plains into the middle Mississippi Valley. Puerto Rico’s drought is expected to persist and expand. ncei
The agency also forecasts above-average September wildland-fire potential in parts of the Northwest, northern Great Basin, Upper Midwest, Southern Plains, Lower Mississippi Valley, southern Florida and Puerto Rico. Those are outlooks, not guarantees. The next concrete checkpoint is whether September rain improves the regions NOAA flagged—or confirms that the summer’s record heat has left a longer tail of water stress. ncei