As we head toward the back half of 2026, we’re into an El Niño that looks to strengthen in the months ahead. While El Niño correlations to winter precipitation are stronger than they are during the summer…we do look to have more of an active monsoon season through July than the last few years.
NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center issues their monthly outlook on a 14 day lead…so here is their precipitation and temperature outlook for July that was issued on Thursday.
The central mountains of Colorado are on the edge of an area that has a more than likely chance of being above average on precipitation through the month…an area that badly needs water after the historically low snowpack through the winter…and what’s been a lackluster crop of thunderstorm rain so far this summer.
Even with the expected active monsoon and the increased cloud cover that comes it, the western U.S. is expected to be above average through the month on the temperature side of things.
