September 2020 was the hottest September on record for the globe, continuing a sweltering year. 

The latest maps from NOAA's Climate Prediction Center show where October 2020 is forecast to be much hotter and drier than average in the U.S. It's not a great outlook for the wildfire-affected West.

August 2020 was the second-hottest August on record, and it ended the hottest summer on record for the Northern Hemisphere.

The September 2020 temperature and precipitation outlook favors a warmer- and drier-than-average September across the western United States, and a wetter-than-average month across the south-central Plains and much of the East.

July 2020 was the second-warmest July on record for the globe, as 2020 continues its scorching path to one of the hottest years on record. 

July temperatures are favored to be in the warmest third of the recent climate record for much of the U.S. In the drought-stricken Southwest, the odds of well below average precipitation are higher than the odds of an average or wetter-than-average July.