A dry spring and summer set the stage for a rapidly expanding and intensifying drought in the Northern Plains, causing widespread agricultural impacts with total losses exceeding $1 billion.However, the wet winter allowed vegetation to flourish creating an abundance of fuels for wildfires during the subsequent dry season. Heavy precipitation during the winter season caused significant flooding and record high snowpack across the West and helped to end a multiyear drought impacting California and Nevada.The drought footprint reached a low of 4.5 percent in late May, the smallest drought footprint in the 18-year period of record for the U.S. Drought Monitor, the year began and ended with about one-quarter of the contiguous U.S. Numerous tributaries of the Mississippi River had record high crests, breaching levees with widespread damage to homes, businesses, infrastructure and agriculture.ĭrought conditions changed dramatically throughout 2017. Another heavy rain event impacted the Mid-Mississippi Valley in April and May. Rainfall totals exceeded 60 inches in parts of Texas with devastating floods across the Houston metro area. Several large-scale flooding events impacted the nation during 2017 including the record-shattering rainfall across Texas and Louisiana associated with Category 4 Hurricane Harvey – the first major hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. Below-average precipitation was observed in parts of the Southwest, Northern Rockies and Northern Plains. Michigan had its wettest year on record with 39.23 inches of precipitation, 8.10 inches above average.

Since 1895, precipitation across the CONUS has increased at an average rate of 1.67 inches per century.Ībove-average precipitation was observed across the nation with much-wetter-than-average conditions across parts of the West and the Great Lakes region. This made 2017 the 20 th wettest year on record for the nation, and the fifth consecutive year with above-average precipitation. average annual precipitation was 32.21 inches, which is 2.27 inches above the long-term average. Thirty-two additional states, including Alaska, had annual temperatures that ranked among the 10 warmest on record. Five states – Arizona, Georgia, New Mexico, North Carolina and South Carolina – had their warmest year on record. Despite cold seasons in various regions throughout the year, above-average temperatures, often record breaking, during other parts of the year more than offset any seasonal cool conditions. and Alaska had an above-average annual temperature. Nationally, the average minimum (low) temperature was 42.8☏, the fourth warmest on record, while the average maximum (high) temperature was 66.4☏, the fifth warmest on record.įor the third consecutive year, every state across the contiguous U.S. Since 1895, the CONUS has observed an average temperature increase of 1.5☏ per century. The five warmest years on record for the contiguous U.S. This was the third warmest year since record keeping began in 1895, behind 2012 (55.3☏) and 2016 (54.9☏), and the 21 st consecutive warmer-than-average year for the U.S. was 54.6☏, 2.6☏ above the 20 th century average. Based on preliminary analysis, the average annual temperature for the contiguous U.S.

Harvey rain totals today