The highest chances for much warmer than average conditions are in the Great Basin and the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast.
Understanding Climate
Explainers, factsheets, reports, and other resources
The May 2021 outlook favors warmth for the southern half of the country and a wet East-dry West split.
Every ten years, NOAA releases an analysis of U.S. weather of the past three decades, calculating average values for temperature, rainfall, and other climate conditions that have come to represent the new “normals” of our changing climate.
Although this was the smallest warm departure for any March since 2014, it was still the eighth-warmest March for the planet in the 142-year record.
A wetter-than-average March moderated drought in parts of the Central Plains, but severe to exceptional drought remained widespread in the West.
A panel of hurricane experts reviewed more than 90 research studies on the observed and projected changes in tropical cyclones for an updated summary of what the science says about the human influence on these devastating storms.
February 2021 was the United States' coldest February in 30 years, but the winter overall was warmer than average. Much of the West remained in some level of drought.
Polar vortex expert Amy Butler and Arctic expert James Overland offer perspectives on the February cold snap in the southern U.S., the polar vortex, and how the Arctic might influence mid-latitude weather.
Averaged across the land and ocean, January 2021 was the seventh-hottest January on record dating back to 1880.
Top-10 warmest January for contiguous U.S., Great Lakes ice cover well below average