The forecast through March indicates widespread and exceptional water deficits in South Australia, Victoria, and New South Wales. Deficits of varying severity are forecast for Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, Northern Territory’s Top End, central Tasmania, and North Island, New Zealand. Moderate surpluses are expected in an arc across the northern part of the country from the Kimberly Plateau through northeastern Queensland to the coast. The forecast past March is less eventful, with deficits emerging across Northern Territory, scattered through Victoria and New South Wales, and in Tasmania, and New Zealand.
United States: Water deficits MO, OK, AR; surplus ID, NV, UT
Water deficits are forecast for Missouri, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, as well as in a line extending northeast from Mississippi through Alabama, northern Georgia, western South Carolina, western North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Surpluses are expected in southern Idaho, northeastern Nevada, and northwestern Utah.
Canada: Water deficits persist in central QC, southern ON; surpluses southern BC
The forecast for Canada through March indicates water deficits in central Quebec, southern Ontario, southern Newfoundland, and northern reaches of western provinces. Surpluses are forecast across Ontario from the southern Kenora District to Quebec, Manitoba from Hudson Bay reaching southwest to Lake Winnipeg, northwestern Saskatchewan, and southern British Columbia.
Mexico, Central America & the Caribbean: Water deficits in southern Mexico, Jamaica
The forecast through March indicates scattered moderate water deficits throughout much of Mexico with pockets of exceptional deficits in the south and the Yucatan Peninsula. Deficits will persist in Guatemala and emerge in eastern Jamaica. Surpluses are forecast for eastern Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, and Haiti.
Europe: Water surpluses forecast in Eastern Europe, deficits in Western Europe
Water anomaly patterns will remain much the same in the next six months with shifts in extent and intensity. Deficits are forecast through June in Scandinavia, the Baltics, Western Europe, and Central Europe. Surpluses will persist in Eastern Europe, western European Russia, and southern Spain’s Mediterranean coast.