The federal Climate Prediction Center has updated its summer forecast, and it's hotter and drier than the last one. The predictions show almost every state moving toward a hotter-than-normal June, July, and August, the Hill reports. That would mean this summer could be a lot like summer 2023, which a study has found was the Northern Hemisphere's hottest in more than 2,000 years. And then there's La Niña, which looks like it'll become a factor between July and September. La Niña years can mean drought conditions for the southern half of the country, including Southern California and the Southwest, as well as a stronger hurricane season in the Atlantic.
The best chances of an unusually hot summer are in the West, with Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of Colorado having a 60% to 70% likelihood. At the same time, the region is looking likely to have below-normal precipitation, which could lead to drought conditions there. The Northeast also is looking like it will be hot. Betting is even on a few places, per the Hill. The center gives North Dakota, South Dakota, and parts of Minnesota and Iowa equal chances of having a normal summer, hotter-than-average summer, or cooler-than-average summer. (More summer weather stories.)
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