North Dakota has experienced the driest six-month time period dating back to 1895 when weather officials started collecting such data. California is facing its fifth-driest such period, with the last 30-year period showing a long-term trend of declining moisture to the tune of one inch per year. Meanwhile, the Corn Belt has seen an increase of almost one inch per year since 1990, according to new weather data. In short, the West is getting warmer and drier while the Midwest is getting wetter. Much of those trends — as well as rising concerns about more frequent drought in the Plains — have to do with changes in water temperature in the Pacific Ocean. Specific to temperature, long-term data show the northern Plains, Midwest and Northeast have seen “much above average” temps compared to the last 125 years of general weather data. See more about this long-term weather data as well as an active outlook for much of the nation for the next week, ranging from Red Flag Warnings in the West to frost dangers in the northern Midwest.