Heavy Rainfall for Portions of the West and Central U.S.; Monitoring Fire Weather Conditions for New England

Tropical moisture continues to flow across portions of the Great Basin, desert Southwest and California. Isolated instances of flash flooding remains possible. Meanwhile, a storm and associated frontal boundary will focus showers and thunderstorms for the center of the nation. For New England, dry and breezy conditions could enhance favorable fire weather conditions. Read More >

August temperatures hovered around average, but rainfall was quite a bit below average at all climate sites. The lack of rain caused drought conditions to worsen, with some areas experiencing extreme to exceptional drought and at least moderate to severe drought persisting across most of the region. Rivers and streams remain around to below average as a result and soils remain dry.

CPC outlooks suggest that warm and dry conditions may persist through the remainder of September, with equal chances for above, below, or around average temperatures for the next three months going into fall. There is some signal for below normal precipitation in the next three months.

NOTE: No records were tied or broken at any climate site in August 2023.