A dry monsoon season mixed with some of the hottest average temperatures in Arizona record has led to concerningly low soil moisture heading into the winter.
Experts report that without further adaptation to prepare for worsening climate change impacts, California will see significant losses of available water and potentially devastating effects on watersheds.
As the Salton Sea shrinks, the exposed lakebed has caused increased pollution and health problems for communities in California's Imperial County and beyond, researchers found.
The past few days of moisture pulled some parts of Montana out of impending deep drought, but western Montana is still critically dry with low snowpack and low streamflows.
With snowpack running well behind the seasonal average, Missoula County is racing to gather its resources ahead of what's anticipated to be an active wildfire season.