A warmer-than-average start to spring is favored for the central and eastern United States while a drier-than-average March is likely across the southern tier of the contiguous U.S.
The May 2020 temperature and precipitation outlook issued by NOAA's Climate Prediction Center forecasts a warmer-than-average May for the western United States and Gulf Coast and a drier-than-average month for the Great Lakes.
It's the start of meteorological spring, and warmer-than-average temperatures are favored for the central/eastern United States, while the precipitation outlook is more variable.
Wildfires break out in Oklahoma in April 2018
April 24, 2018
This pair of maps shows whether your state tends to have wet, dry, or average springs during El Niño, and how often the wet or dry pattern occurred during the last 10 El Niño years.
Comparing the groundhog‘s shadow to U.S. national temperature observations, Punxsutawney Phil has been right five years over 2011–2010. As for 2021, only time will tell.