Northeast Drought Status

Coastal Areas See Some Improvement
Interior parts of the Northeast generally saw less than a half inch of precipitation this week, causing conditions to deteriorate in a few spots. Meanwhile, many coastal locations from Maryland to Maine saw over an inch of precipitation, chipping away at drought and abnormal dryness. However, for some sites along the Interstate 95 corridor in the Mid-Atlantic, the precipitation was a drop in the bucket compared to the long-term deficits fueled by an exceptionally dry fall and made worse by a drier-than-normal winter. Deficits for the September 1 and March 11 period include 6.59 below normal (6.52 inches last week) in Washington, D.C., 9.99 inches below normal (10.10 inches last week) in Baltimore, 11.04 inches below normal (11.51 inches last week) in Wilmington, 10.72 inches below normal (11.37 inches last week) in Philadelphia, and 9.92 inches below normal (10.50 inches last week) in Newark.

• Extreme (D3) drought contracted slightly in southern New Jersey.
• Severe (D2) drought was removed from southern New England and New York.
• Moderate (D1) drought shrank in New England but expanded in West Virginia.
• Abnormal dryness (D0) eased in northern Maine but expanded in West Virginia.
• Record-low streamflow was mostly confined to south-central Pennsylvania.
• Record low groundwater levels were found in eight out of the 12 Northeast states, particularly in the region’s southeastern corner.
• Reservoir levels in New Jersey increased slightly but remained below or near average.
• There was an uptick in fire activity in some areas due to dry, windy conditions.
• The forecast for the next seven days (March 13 to 20) calls for 0.50 to 1.50 inches of precipitation for most areas. Normal amounts for the period generally range from 0.50 to 1.00 inches.
• More precipitation will be needed to offset increasing evapotranspiration rates as we get further into spring.

The NRCC’s full weekly drought update can be found here.

Website Highlights