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Meteorological Fall 2025 Was Record Warm In 7 States, And One Of America's Warmest Since 1895, NOAA Says

Meteorological fall 2025 has come to a close, and records were set across the country for hottest, wettest and driest falls on record.

Fall 2025 Temperature And Precipitation Superlatives

This past fall was the warmest on record in seven U.S. states from Texas to Washington, and was among one of the nation's warmest falls in 131 years, according to a just-released government report.

The record states: In data released Monday, NOAA calculated seven U.S. states — Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Washington — each had their record warmest meteorological fall in 2025, meaning the months of September, October and November.

NOAA also calculated it was America's third warmest fall dating to 1895, behind only 2016 and 2024. All five of the country's warmest falls have occurred in the past 10 years, according to NOAA.

Statewide average temperature rankings from September through November 2025. The states shaded in red were record warm in that time.
(NOAA/NCEI)

Here’s a look at some other records set across the country in terms of temperature and precipitation this past fall.

Heat Reigns Across The South And West: Multiple cities with at least 65 years of temperature data across the Southern Plains saw their hottest fall on record, including Abilene, Texas; Lubbock, Texas; and Albuquerque, New Mexico. Spokane, Washington, also measured their hottest fall on record as part of the noteworthy heat across the West.

Overall, eight cities broke the record for the hottest meteorological fall in 2025 and an additional 25 cities reached at least the top three hottest.

There isn’t really a comparable “cold side” to this equation. Nowhere in the country did fall 2025 even break the top three coldest, much less earn the top spot.

Precipitation Superlatives Were Highly Regional: Multiple systems and weather patterns contributed to a record-breaking amount of precipitation for fall in the Southwest, with low pressure systems and atmospheric rivers funneling rain into Southern California and the remnants of tropical systems causing flooding in the Desert Southwest.

Phoenix measured 6.31 inches of rain from September through November, just under an inch away from the average annual rainfall the city receives (7.22 inches).

Death Valley, California, reached 2.41 inches for the season, a fifth of an inch higher than the annual average (2.20 inches).

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The Southwest and Ohio Valley, meanwhile, were dry for this time of year. The record for driest meteorological fall was set in Albany, Georgia, as well as Sarasota and Tampa in Florida. Tampa was 8.67 inches below the seasonal average with only 1.16 inches of rain over the entire three months.

Over half of the Southeast is currently under at least moderate drought conditions, and there is not much change anticipated soon for Florida as the state continues through its dry season.

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Sara Tonks is a content meteorologist with weather.com and has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from Georgia Tech in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences along with a master’s degree from Unity Environmental University in Marine Science.