July To September: Your Temperature Outlook

Summer officially begins this coming Friday and for parts of the West and northern tier, the next three months could be hotter than average as the South sees heat potentially tempered by wet conditions.

Here's a look at the general trend for temperatures and rainfall from July through September, according to an updated outlook released Saturday by The Weather Company and Atmospheric G2.

Temperature Highlights

• What Forecasters Are Saying About The Big Picture: "We still expect the most anomalous and persistent summer heat across the Northwest, with a relatively cool summer across the Southeast," said Todd Crawford, Vice President of Meteorology at Atmospheric G2.
• An Upside-Down Outlook: The map above shows what Crawford is referring to, with darker red indicating that temperatures will be most above average from parts of Oregon and Washington eastward to the Dakotas, and then generally above average through the upper Midwest, Great Lakes and Northeast. In contrast, the Gulf Coast into the Southeast and Florida are forecast to be near or slightly below average. But don't let that fool you – the typical high humidity will make it feel plenty sticky even if temperatures aren't persistently scorching.
• A Changeable Region: While the Northeast forecast shows temperatures will be above average for the three months as a whole, it could come in spurts. "Variability will be the word in the Northeast, with shorter bursts of heat frequently getting knocked back down by Canadian air masses," Crawford said.

Rainfall Highlights

• South, East Could Pile On To Already Soggy Conditions: May was the second-wettest and third-wettest on record in the Southeast and Northeast, respectively, and it looks like the wet trend might continue in parts of those regions. Odds are leaning toward near or slightly above average rainfall from the Gulf Coast northward into the mid-Atlantic and southern New England from July through September.
• An Active Southwest Monsoon? The seasonal wind shift that drives an increase in showers and storms in the Southwest typically ramps up in July and continues through August. This year, odds are leaning toward an active monsoon, with near to slightly above-average rainfall expected, especially in Arizona.
• Drought Worsening Or Developing: From the upper Midwest westward to the Northern Plains and Northern Rockies is where rainfall has the best odds to be below average. Parts of those regions are seeing abnormally dry or drought conditions right now, so the dryness could worsen in the next three months.

Chris Dolce has been a senior digital meteorologist with weather.com for 15 years after beginning his career with The Weather Channel in the early 2000s.