USBR Crack the Case Challenge Geophysicists, sensing specialists, nondestructive testing experts, and creative problem-solvers (including AI/ML practitioners) from any field are invited to develop novel methods for detecting subsurface cracks in embankment dams. 🧪 www.nasa.gov/directorates...

A freakishly dry spring is literally changing the landscape in Colorado With the low snowpack comes the need for water conservation, which will likely mean less lawn watering and a less attractive lawn than usual. #Colorado #drought #water www.cnn.com/2026/04/06/c...

Middle East tensions drives global food prices higher for second month The latest FAO benchmark index, tracking monthly changes in the international prices of a basket of globally traded food commodities, rose to 1% above its level a year ago. #FoodPrices www.euronews.com/2026/04/04/m...

It’s official: This is Colorado’s worst snowpack year on record, as some mountains sites start April snowless for first time ever Large swathes of the Colorado Rocky Mountains that are usually covered in snow this time of year started out the month barren. 🧪 www.aspentimes.com/news/colorad...

Drought puts Peace River fossil hunting on the map with megalodon teeth Along the Peace River in Charlotte County, lower water levels are giving fossil hunters rare access to areas that are typically underwater to find megalodon teeth. #drought #Florida www.gulfcoastnewsnow.com/article/peac...

Drought, diesel prices could cut crawfish season short Crawfish producers are pumping more water into ponds, and the high price of diesel makes it expensive to irrigate. Without the issuance of H-2B visas for guest workers, there aren't enough crawfish peelers. www.heraldguide.com/featured/dro...

What A Blast! 906pm on Thursday over Chicago. All that lightning in one moment...this is one image.

Drought puts Peace River fossil hunting on the map with megalodon teeth Along the Peace River in Charlotte County, lower water levels are giving fossil hunters rare access to areas that are typically underwater to find megalodon teeth. #drought #Florida www.gulfcoastnewsnow.com/article/peac...

March was a dry month, leading to widespread drought expansion across the US with some small areas of improvement in the Midwest and Northeast. Drought covers 59.91% of the continental US, a jump of 3.7 points from last week. #drought #USDM #USDroughtMonitor 🧪 droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap.a...

‘On a whole other level’: rapid snow melt-off in US West stuns scientists Snow surveys taking place across the West this week are offering a grim prognosis, after a historically warm winter and searing March heat left the critical snowpack at record-low levels. 🧪 www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Precipitation across the US in March was mostly below normal and less than 50% of normal in the areas shaded red. Dark red indicates areas where precip was <5% of normal like in the Southwest. Parts of the Pacific Northwest and Midwest got much above normal precip. 🧪 hprcc.unl.edu/maps.php?map...

Fires Tear Through Nebraska Grasslands On March 12, 2026, a wildland fire ignited in Morrill County, Nebraska. Within 12 hours, high winds had driven flames about 70 miles east-southeast across the prairie, and charred 640,000 acres within a week. #Nebraska #fire science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-...

New AI Tool Forecasts Drought 90 Days Ahead Nationwide The USGS River DroughtCast tool may provide towns extra time to prepare for water shortages that could impact agriculture, municipal supplies, recreation and ecosystems. #RiverDroughtCast #drought #USGS #water #AI 🧪 www.usgs.gov/news/nationa...

The @cssl.bsky.social is reporting zero snow water equivalent this morning, with just a little snow left around the property. It’s the earliest melt out of the lab’s snowpack since 2015. Median March 30 snow water equivalent is 34 inches. #CAwx

Tropical volcanic eruptions trigger atmospheric changes that drive droughts in Asia Past tropical volcanic eruptions have been connected with historical large-scale droughts across parts of Asia documented over the last millennium. #drought #volcano 🧪 phys.org/news/2026-03...

🚨 Homeschoolers! Public school science teachers! Weather junkies! 🚨 We kick off this week's Weather101 lineup with The Basics of NWS. Can't make any of our other classes? This is the one to see. We wrap up the week talking about The Radar. Visit weather.gov/ohx/weather101 to register

NO KINGS NEBRASKA: Hundreds of Nebraskans protested against the Trump administration Saturday in Lincoln and Omaha as part of 18 No Kings demonstrations planned statewide. From Juan Salinas II and Cindy Gonzalez: buff.ly/o3MipFH

The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), a shared hub of weather, water, and climate science, is under threat. On AMS Headlines 🗞️, hear from our community about how their work relies on NCAR's shared resources: https://bit.ly/41wO91v

Floridan aquifer levels hit lowest since 2011 with little March rain Alachua County and North Central #Florida continue to overdraw from the Floridan aquifer. The overall upper aquifer level dipped below the 20th percentile for the first time since 2011. www.mainstreetdailynews.com/news/florida...

Ready for a downright beautiful display of fluid dynamics? The Fujiwhara effect between two mid-latitude cyclones in the North Pacific.

Drought expanded and intensified across most of the country with a few spots of improvement in the Pacific Northwest, Midwest and Northeast. Drought (D1-D4) covers 56.21% of the US, up 1.4 points from last week. #drought #DroughtMonitor 🧪 droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/S...

Colorado has seen its warmest year on record so far. It is also one of the driest, with snow-water equivalent levels below the fifth percentile in many locations, and at a record low for some. (1/2) #Drought #Drought2026 #US #Colorado

What the historic snow drought means for water, wildfires and the future of the West Winter 2026 was a year with little snow that will likely lead to low water supplies and river flows, Lake Powell falling too low to produce electricity, and a bad fire season. theconversation.com/what-the-his...

I need this good news.

Would you like an opportunity to learn more about the U.S. Drought Monitor and ask those who update it weekly some questions? Here's your chance this afternoon.

Colorado towns enact water restrictions as drought forecast looks grim A dry winter and dwindling snowpack across Colorado have prompted water managers to warn that restrictions may be needed if conditions do not improve heading into spring and summer. #drought www.accuweather.com/en/climate/c...

NOAA's 49th Climate Diagnostics & Prediction Workshop 2026 Subseasonal to Seasonal Analysis, Prediction, and Services Webinar Series The 2nd webinar on March 25 at 2pm Eastern will be about the origin and evolution of the U.S. Drought Monitor. 🧪 To register: www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/out...

Drought Leads to Increased Antibiotic-Resistant Microbes in Soils A Caltech study found that drought increases the abundances of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms in soils, which directly correlates with an increase in antibiotic-resistant infections in hospitals.🧪 www.caltech.edu/about/news/d...

This Year's Snow Drought is Etching Itself Into Utah Forest History Without winter snowpack to turn into spring runoff, trees will grow very little, leaving narrow bands in the tree-ring records. In really bad years, there is no growth or ring at all. #tree #drought 🧪 www.usu.edu/today/story/...

UN issues new climate warning as El Niño looms The WMO says that Earth is gaining much more heat energy than it can release, driven by emissions of warming gases such as carbon dioxide. This record "energy imbalance" heated the ocean to new heights last year. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Record-shattering March temperatures in Western North America virtually impossible without climate change An unusually early spring heatwave is developing across the southwestern US with temperatures that are more typical of summer than mid-March. www.worldweatherattribution.org/record-shatt...

5m tonnes of CO2 emitted in just 14 days of US war on Iran, analysis finds The US-Israel war on Iran is a disaster for the climate, according to an analysis that finds it is draining the global carbon budget faster than 84 countries combined. #CO2 #CarbonBudget www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

The moon and Venus below as seen from Lincoln, Nebraska’s Haymarket.

Records shattered as summer heat hits Southwest in March; ‘This is what climate change looks like’ The Southwest can cope with deadly heat, but not months early, like 110°F (43.3 Celsius) in the Arizona desert on Thursday, setting a new March high temp record in the US. 🧪 apnews.com/article/heat...

The US Seasonal Drought Outlook thru June shows that drought may persist/develop in much of the West, Great Plains, lower Mississippi River to the Carolinas, and in the Northeast. It may improve/be removed in the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, and Midwest. #drought 🧪 www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/exp...

Nebraska fires burn grazing lands, threaten plans to grow US cattle herd The loss of grasslands in the second-biggest cattle-producing state removes a feed source for herds and could delay ranchers ‌from expanding as they struggle with widespread #drought. #Nebraska www.reuters.com/business/env...

Drought worsened and expanded in the Plains and West, while it eased in the eastern half of the US. Drought covers 54.81% of the nation, an uptick of 0.84 points. The snowpack remains thin in parts of the West as temperatures climb. #drought #DroughtMonitor 🧪 droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/S...

‘A blaring alarm’ issued for Colorado River as heat wave melts snow early The Colorado River system’s immediate outlook got even worse this week when federal forecasters downgraded the expected inflows into Lake Powell to just 27% of average. #ColoradoRiver 🧪 www.reviewjournal.com/news/environ...

Corpus Christi water emergency may be just two months away Two out of the five projections city leaders presented showed water shortages beginning in May. The city has yet to detail plans for how to reduce water use for residents and businesses. #drought #Texas www.texastribune.org/2026/03/17/t...

Severe US drought undermined Gulf fisheries, raising food security concerns A severe and prolonged US drought in the late 1980s played a central role in one of the largest fisheries declines ever recorded in the Gulf of Mexico. #Drought #FoodSecurity #GulfOfMexico 🧪 news.miami.edu/rosenstiel/s...

For the past 30 days, the percent of normal precipitation over large swaths of the central and southern Plains and Southwest has been 50% or less of normal in dark orange and red. Over parts of the West and Midwest, precipitation has been considerably above-normal. #precipitation 🧪

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott steps in with emergency actions to secure Corpus Christi water supply The governor directed state agencies to expedite temporary water permits and to protect residents during short-term shortages. #Texas #drought #CorpusChristi #water www.kiiitv.com/article/news...

Colorado governor activates state's Drought Task Force as low snow and record warmth intensify drought conditions Colorado Gov. Jared Polis activated the state’s Drought Task Force and Phase 2 of Colorado’s Drought Response Plan. #Colorado #drought www.pagosasun.com/stories/gove...

The North American Drought Monitor shows drought changes during February. In Canada, drought (D1-D4) slid 13.59 points to cover 27.99%. In the US, drought increased 8.49 points to cover 45.82%. In Mexico, drought expanded 0.83 points to cover 7.41%. #drought 🧪 droughtmonitor.unl.edu/NADM/Home.aspx

In the West, snow drought is pushing cross-country ski areas closer to a breaking point Due to high temperatures and low precip, snow coverage across the Western US likely peaked in February at around 38% of average. The percentage marks a record low. 🧪 www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/open-spaces/...

Lots of fires burning across the Great Plains as reported on Watch Duty. The wind speed map shows strong winds in red. #wildfire #fire #wind

Tiny California Wildflower Stuns Scientists With Drought-Defying Comeback A new genetics study finds that the scarlet monkeyflower appears to have evolved in real time during California’s brutal 2012 to 2015 drought and, in some places, recovered and thrived. hoodline.com/2026/03/tiny...

Water managers look to spur precipitation in the midst of record-breaking drought A cloud seeding company from Oman performs “ionization cloud seeding,” using high-voltage rays to ionize naturally occurring aerosols in the atmosphere. #CloudSeeding www.aspenpublicradio.org/environment/...

US forecasts blizzard, polar vortex, heat dome and atmospheric river all at once Nearly every part of the United States is getting walloped by wild weather or just about to be. #weather #JetStream apnews.com/article/heat...

North Florida drought strains farmers as dry conditions persist North Florida fields are drying out faster, forcing growers to irrigate more to prepare fields for planting. #drought #Florida www.wuft.org/2026-03-11/n...