Weather outlook improves following 2024’s heat-driven drought
According to the USDA Fruit and Tree Nuts Outlook (March 2025), 2024 brought historic heat to the United States, marking the warmest year in the contiguous U.S. since records began in 1895, according to NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information. While 2024 also ranked as the third wettest year overall, key agricultural states like California and Washington experienced a dangerous mix of summer dryness and extreme heat, significantly affecting fruit and tree nut production. … In California, southern regions were hit especially hard. By February 2025, the U.S. Drought Monitor reported moderate to extreme drought across the entire southeast interior of the state. In Northern California, drought was less severe. The Sacramento Valley saw a rapid shift from no drought in July 2024 to 100% of land classified as abnormally dry by October. … The San Joaquin Valley, largely drought-free through the summer, also saw worsening dryness by fall, with nearly all land in drought by February 2025—over 60% at moderate to severe levels.
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