Pacific Storm System Moves Inland; Strong Storm in Alaska

A Pacific storm system will bring low elevation/valley rain and mountain snow as it moves inland to the central Great Basin through the central Rockies through Thursday. Scattered thunderstorms are likely from California into the Great Basin. A large low pressure system continues to bring snow, blizzard conditions, damaging winds, and mixed precipitation along the Bering Sea and Southwest Alaska. 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.