A carpet of colorful (mostly yellow and orange) wildflowers in California with red-toned mountains in the distance. Wildflowers bloom at Carrizo Plain National Monument on March 12, 2026, in Santa Margarita, California. California’s deserts and hills are seeing a colorful wildflower bloom this spring after a wet winter. (Image credit: Getty Images)

Spring Outlook: Drought Forecasted to Expand in U.S. West, Parts of Plains

4/11/2026 - By noaa.gov, noaa.gov. Drought conditions are forecast to worsen or develop for many areas in the West and south-central Plains, according to NOAA’s Spring Outlook released today for April through June. Forecasters from NOAA’s National Weather Service also predict above-normal temperatures for the majority of the U.S. “Factors influencing NOAA’s Spring Outlook include… SEE MORE
Straddling the equator, the Amazon River Basin occupies more than a third of South America. Rainfall is seasonal, shifting north of the equator in Northern Hemisphere summer and south of the equator in Northern Hemisphere winter. NOAA Climate.gov image, based on NASA Blue Marble collection.

Preliminary Analysis Says Global Warming More to Blame than El Niño for Amazon’s Ongoing Record Drought

2/18/2024 - By REBECCA LINDSEY. The devastating drought in the Amazon River Basin that we wrote about in October has continued into Northern Hemisphere winter, which is the heart of the wet season in the southern part of the basin. The drought is cutting off rural and riverside communities from food supplies, markets for… SEE MORE