News

There’s a lot going on at NCEI. Discover more about us and Earth’s climate, oceans, coasts, and geophysics in these featured news stories.

Assessing the Global Climate in June 2020

July 13, 2020

The global land and ocean temperature departure from average for June 2020 was +1.66°F (+0.92°C), tying with 2015 as the third-highest June temperature on record.

Picture of an alleyway in Sicily

Assessing the U.S. Climate in June 2020

July 8, 2020

During June, the average contiguous U.S. temperature was 70.3°F, 1.8°F above the 20th-century average.

Picture of a bear in a forest stream

U.S. Drought Monitor Update for July 7, 2020

July 7, 2020

According to the July 7 U.S. Drought Monitor, moderate to extreme drought covers 21.6% of the United States including Puerto Rico.

Picture of Monument Valley in Arizona

U.S. Drought Monitor Update for June 30, 2020

July 2, 2020

According to the June 30 U.S. Drought Monitor, moderate to exceptional drought covers 21.4% of the United States including Puerto Rico.

Picture of a road leading to the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho

June 2020 Regional Climate Impacts and Outlooks

June 26, 2020

The June 2020 three-month summaries of climate impacts and outlooks are now available for 11 regions and subregions.

Photo of box turtle in grass

U.S. Drought Monitor Update for June 23, 2020

June 25, 2020

According to the June 23 U.S. Drought Monitor, moderate to extreme drought covers 21.4% of the United States including Puerto Rico.

Picture of Arches National Park, Utah

NCEI Archives Data from COSMIC-2 Satellites

June 25, 2020

NCEI is archiving data from COSMIC-2, a constellation of six microsatellites that launched in June 2019.

Illustration of one COSMIC-2 microsatellite by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd.

Assessing the Global Climate in May 2020

June 12, 2020

The global land and ocean temperature departure from average for May 2020 was 1.71°F (0.95°C) above average, tying with 2016 as the warmest May in the 141-year record.

Picture of sand dunes in Namibia

U.S. Drought Monitor Update for June 9, 2020

June 11, 2020

According to the June 9 U.S. Drought Monitor, moderate to extreme drought covers 17.9% of the United States including Puerto Rico.

Photo of Calico ghost town in Mojave Desert

Assessing the U.S. Climate in May 2020

June 8, 2020

During May, the average contiguous U.S. temperature was 60.8°F, 0.6°F above the 20th-century average.

Picture of Wisconsin Landscape