The Southwestern United States, comprising the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah, is experiencing an historic, continuing drought. In early 2020, an extreme deficit in precipitation paired with extremely high temperatures marked a low point in two decades of below average precipitation across the region.
Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Western Region for June–August 2022. Dated September 2022.
Temperatures were above normal across the entire West with many long-term stations in the top five warmest summers on record. Most of the West saw near-normal or above-normal precipitation this summer.
Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Southern Region for June–August 2022. Dated September 2022.
Summer started off dry and hot across most of the Southern region and stayed that way until mid-August. Weather conditions shifted in August, as a persistent ridge of high pressure gave way to deep tropical air from the southeast.
Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Great Lakes Region for June–August 2022. Dated September 2022.
June, July, and summer were within 1°C (2°F) of normal for most of the basins, with a few U.S. locations that were warmer. The overall basin saw 90% of average precipitation for summer, and all basins were drier than normal.