Heavy Rainfall in the Southern Plains, Carolinas and Florida; Heat in the West and Northeast

Heavy to excessive rainfall over parts of the southern Plains, Florida Panhandle, and coastal Carolinas may bring areas of flooding today. Hot to extremely hot temperatures are in place through early this week across much of the western U.S. and northern New England. Read More >

It was a very dry July across the Northland. Nearly every place observed below normal rainfall, and in many cases several inches below normal with totals only 25% to 50% of normal! It should come as no surprise that drought conditions have worsened regionwide, with widespread moderate to severe drought and a few pockets of extreme drought. Temperatures were generally a degree or two below average for the month. There were some hot days mixed with average and below average temperature days.

The CPC outlooks for August and the next three months do not suggest a clear trend for temperatures or rainfall. There are equal chances for above, below, or around normal temperatures and precipitation. With that, drought conditions are expected to persist into the foreseeable future even if rainfall trend towards average.