Northeast News

Locally Heavy Rainfall Chips Away at Drought
The U.S. Drought Monitor released on Thursday, July 9 showed drought and/or abnormally dry conditions improve in several areas across the Northeast, particularly where locally heavy rainfall occurred. There were generally limited changes elsewhere in the region.

• Severe and/or moderate drought were trimmed along a path from southern Pennsylvania and Delaware up to Maine.
• Abnormal dryness was erased from a portion of southern West Virginia.
• Record-low seven-day streamflow was found in places like eastern Maryland, southern Delaware, southeastern Pennsylvania, southeastern New Jersey, and northern Rhode Island.
• Groundwater levels were record low in several areas including parts of Maryland, New Jersey, eastern New York, and Massachusetts.
• Growers in parts of West Virginia continued to note drought-related impacts like reduced hay yields and poor pasture conditions.
• The short-term outlooks for July 14-18 predict near-normal temperatures and near-normal precipitation for a large portion of the Northeast, which could mean minimal change in conditions, especially in the driest locations.

For more information, see the Northeast DEWS Dashboard (to see the full Northeast, click on the grayed-out Pennsylvania in the map in the top left) and the Northeast Drought Update. Submit drought impact reports via the Condition Monitoring Observer Reports (CMOR) page.

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