News and Features

As early as November of last year, NOAA scientists were able to forecast extreme drought conditions that would likely lead to high fire risk in the South, allowing fire managers time to prepare for an active season.

At the peak of this year’s drought, a record 12 percent of the U.S. was experiencing exceptional drought conditions.

How do warm waters in the Caribbean this year compare to conditions in 2005, when high ocean temperatures triggered the worst mass coral bleaching event ever seen in the region?

Ponds that were built to hold significant amounts of water for cattle are dwindling away under the hot temperatures, dry winds and lack of rain.

In summer 2011, the South was in the grip of one of the worst droughts on record. Many parts of New Mexico and western Texas have received a small fraction of their normal rainfall over the past 10 months.

After enduring months of drought and baking summer heat, residents of the Southwest and Southern Plains will hardly be excited about the fall 2011 temperature and precipitation outlooks.

As the East Coast prepares for the arrival of Hurricane Irene, New Englanders may be recalling a similarly threatening storm that walloped the area 73 years ago.