NOAA 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season Forecast

Forecasters within NOAA’s National Weather Service predict above-normal hurricane activity in the Atlantic basin this year. 

NOAA’s outlook for the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, which goes from June 1 to November 30, predicts a 30% chance of a near-normal season, a 60% chance of an above-normal season, and a 10% chance of a below-normal season.

NOAA is forecasting a range of 13 to 19 total named storms with winds of 39 mph or higher.

Of those, 6-10 are forecast to become hurricanes (storms with winds of 74 mph or higher).

Including 3-5 major hurricanes (category 3, 4 or 5; with winds of 111 mph or higher).

NOAA has a 70% confidence in these ranges.

NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center typically updates the Atlantic seasonal outlook in early August, prior to the historical peak of the season.

Nationwide Rivers Inventory Update 2024

New River | Credit: NPS

In 2024, the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) completed a federal lands update of the Nationwide Rivers Inventory (NRI).

The update integrated readily available planning information from an array of wild and scenic river-administering agencies including regional NPS staff, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and U.S. Forest Service (USFS).

The update removed 320 miles of rivers that have been designated as wild and scenic rivers, updated attribute information for existing NRI river segments, corrected existing geospatial data to reflect river shape and mileage more accurately, and added approximately 1,300 segments (nearly 10,000 miles) to the NRI.

The update brought the total number of segments to just under 4,500, and the total mileage in the NRI to approximately 90,000 miles.

As part of the effort, NPS released a new online interactive map where users can Explore the Nationwide Rivers Inventory.

2020 National Parks Fee Free Days (USA)

Acadia National Park | credit: NPS

A number of national parks across the USA will waive entrance fees on five days in 2020.

National Parks Fee Free days encourage people to get outdoors and spend time with  friends and family in U.S. national parks.

The National Park Service (NPS) will offer the following fee-free days in 2020:

• Monday, January 20 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
• Saturday, April 18 – Start of National Park Week / National Junior Ranger Day
• Tuesday, August 25 – National Park Service Birthday
• Saturday, September 26 – National Public Lands Day
• Wednesday, November 11 – Veterans Day

This fee-free opportunity applies to entrance fees only and does not affect fees for camping, backcountry reservations, tours, or other special uses.

Normally, 110 of the 419 national parks in the country charge an entrance fee, while the other 309 national parks do not.

The National Park System includes more than 84 million acres and is comprised of 419 sites, including national parks, national historical parks, national monuments, national recreation areas, national battlefields, and national seashores. There is at least one national park in every state.

source: National Park Service

Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) Volume II

A new federal report finds that climate change is affecting the natural environment, agriculture, energy production and use, land and water resources, transportation, and human health and welfare across the U.S. and its territories.

Volume II of the Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4), released by the United States Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), focuses on climate change impacts, risks and adaptations occurring in the U.S.

The report contains supporting evidence from 16 national-level topic chapters (e.g., water, oceans, energy, and human health), 10 regional chapters and two chapters that focus on societal responses to climate change. USGCRP also released the Second State of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR2).

NOAA is one of 13 federal agencies that contributed significantly to the Fourth National Climate Assessment.

Key findings of the NCA4, Vol. II:

Communities

Human health and safety, our quality of life, and the rate of economic growth in communities across the U.S. are increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

The cascading impacts of climate change threaten the natural, built and social systems we rely on, both within and beyond the nation’s borders.

Societal efforts to respond to climate change have expanded in the last five years, but not at the scale needed to avoid substantial damages to the economy, environment, and human health over the coming decades.

Without substantial and sustained global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and regional initiatives to prepare for anticipated changes, climate change is expected to cause growing losses to American infrastructure and property and impede the rate of economic growth over this century.

Agriculture and food production

Rising temperatures, extreme heat, drought, wildfire on rangelands and heavy downpours are expected to increasingly challenge the quality and quantity of U.S. crop yields, livestock health, price stability and rural livelihoods.
Ecosystems

Continued changes to Earth’s climate will cause major disruptions in some ecosystems. Some coral reef and sea ice ecosystems are already experiencing transformational changes, affecting communities and economies that rely upon them.

Water and the coasts

Changes in the quality and quantity of fresh water available for people and the environment  are increasing risks and costs to agriculture, energy production, industry and recreation.

Climate change will transform coastal regions by the latter part of this century, with ripple effects on other regions and sectors. Many communities should expect higher costs and lower property values from sea level rise.

Health

Climate change threatens the health and well-being of the American people by causing increasing extreme weather, changes to air quality, the spread of new diseases by insects and pests, and changes to the availability of food and water.

To access the report and find background information, please visit the USGCRP website: https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/

source: NOAA

2017 Atlantic Hurricanes - Tropical Storms

Hurricane Harvey landfall    photo credit: NASA/NOAA GOES Project

North America's 2017 Atlantic hurricane season has included a number of record setting storms.

NOAA's 2017 hurricane season outlook August update called for a 60-percent chance of an above-normal season, with 14-19 named storms, 5-9 hurricanes, and 2-5 major hurricanes.

Hurricane Harvey made landfall on the night of Friday, August 25th near Rockport, Texas, as a Category 4 storm, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Rainfall from Hurricane Harvey exceeded 51 inches in some areas, setting a preliminary record for the greatest amount of measured single-storm rainfall for the continental US.

In early September, Hurricane Irma, a powerful category 5 storm churned across the Atlantic and Caribbean, and continental U.S.

The storm made landfall on September 10th in the Florida Keys as a category four storm.

Hurricane Irma caused severe damage in Barbuda, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin, Anguilla, the Virgin Islands (British and U.S.), and Florida (USA).

Hurricane Jose (Category 4) affected the Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, The Bahamas, Bermuda, and the East Coast of the United States.

On September 8, Hurricane Katia (Category 1) made landfall near Tecolutla, Mexico.

Another storm, Maria, reached Hurricane status On September 17, 2017. Over the next 24 hours, Maria intensified explosively into a Category 5 hurricane.

On September 20th, Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico as a strong category 4 hurricane, with winds of 155 mph that knocked out power for the entire island.

Jaguars in North America

Jaguar (photo credit: USFWS)

An iconic species, the jaguar is North America's largest cat.

Although jaguars have been exterminated in much of their historical range, a recovery is possible, according to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) - binational Jaguar Recovery Team draft jaguar recovery plan.

The draft plan sets goals for improving the species’ status through its entire 19-country range and provides a framework for achieving recovery.

The draft plan focuses on the cat’s northwestern population in Mexico and the southwestern United States.

The jaguar recovery plan will allow agencies and organizations, particularly in the U.S. and Mexico, to align their efforts to make meaningful advances in sustaining and improving the status of this iconic species.

USA Jaguars

Since 1996, as many as seven individual jaguars have been documented in the U.S.

Jaguar sightings in the USA have consisted of male jaguars in southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico.

These jaguars are believed to be coming from the nearest core area and breeding population, which is approximately 130 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border in Sonora.

Jaguar re-introductions in the USA are not planned for the short term. Instead, the plan focuses on efforts to sustain habitat, eliminate poaching, and improve social acceptance of the jaguar to accommodate jaguars that disperse into the U.S.

Long Term Jaguar Recovery

The plan cites habitat loss, direct killing of jaguars, and depletion of prey as primary factors contributing to the jaguar’s current status and decreasing population trend.

The plan calls for a minimum timespan of 50 years to achieve a jaguar recovery in North America.

DOI Economic Report for 2015

The U.S. Department of the Interior recently released its Economic Report for Fiscal Year 2015.

The report highlights a variety of Interior investments in recreation, conservation, water, and renewable energy.

According to the report, DOI investments led to $106 billion in economic output, and supported 862,000 jobs.

The report includes information regarding the economic and culture value of U.S. public lands.

The report found that national parks, national wildlife refuges, national monuments, and other public lands managed by Interior hosted an estimated 443 million visits, supporting $45 billion in economic output and about 396,000 jobs.

In total, the report identifies about $300 billion in economic output and 1.8 million jobs supported through Interior’s activities including: tourism and outdoor recreation at parks, monuments and refuges, water management, energy and mineral development on public lands and waters, wildlife conservation, hunting and fishing, support for American Indian tribal communities and U.S. island territories, as well as scientific research and innovation endeavors.

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell noted that many of Interior’s activities have economic values that are not easily calculated, and are not included in the report’s totals.

“Much of the value of our lands and historic sites cannot be expressed in dollars,” said Secretary Jewell. “Beyond their contributions to clean air, clean water and wildlife habitat, many are priceless treasures that belong to all Americans and help define our cultural heritage for present and future generations.”

The DOI report differs from other economic contribution studies in that it is a comprehensive analysis of the economic impacts from DOI activities. This report includes data from reports produced by Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the National Park Service (NPS) that focus on impacts from specific agencies and activities.

A separate economic analysis of the U.S. outdoor recreation sector is being compiled by the Federal Recreation Council and the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.

That report will document the industry’s value and contributions to the national economy, specifically shedding light on the role public lands and waters play, and will develop a baseline for informing future decision-making, governance and long-term management of public lands and waters.

source: U.S. Department of the Interior

USGS Field Photographs Collection

The U.S. Geological Survey has made part of a huge national repository of geographically referenced USGS field photographs publicly available, according to a recent announcement.

Images in the collection can be located by using a new mapping portal called the Land Cover Trends Field Photo Map. The collection contains over 33,000 geo-referenced field photos with associated keywords describing the land-use and land-cover change processes taking place.

Initially, nearly 13,000 photos from across the continental US will be available to the public, yet the online collection will grow as more processed photos become available. Photos may also be found on the USGS Earth Explorer website.

“This is a treasure trove of royalty and copyright-free photography collected using consistent procedures,” said Chris Soulard, project leader and USGS research geographer.

“The benefit of these photos being hosted by the USGS is equal access to all without copyright concerns and quality control,” said Jason Sherba, USGS geographer and project web-developer.

The photography was collected as part the USGS National Land Cover Trends Project, a research effort that spanned over ten years and represented one of USGS’ largest cross-center research efforts.

source: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey