HOW DRY ARE WE?
Written By: Scott Hetsko
You probably know this by looking at the cracks in the dirt around your house, we are starting to get very dry in Western New York. According to the US Drought monitoring site, we are abnormally dry across much of our area. The next step would be a moderate drought which likely won't occur at least in the short term. No substantial rain is forecast through Saturday but I expect the pattern to change beginning on Sunday.
A storm will approach the area bringing periods of rain Sunday and then showers into early next week. Just a good 0.5 to 1.0 inch of rain will go a long way in gettting us back to near average. So while we're a little parched at the moment, nothing to be too concern about at this time!
I have never known this area to "need" rain. We go a week without rain and you guys start your "we need the rain dance" . Unbelievable. We are 1" below for the year big deal. Once it starts it'll never end--you watch "we need the rain" will end up a month of wet misery.
ReplyDeleteTo the first poster. I'm sorry, but your post is ignorant. We've needed rain many times in previous summers. Just ask farmers. When soil gets parched, it can have a devastating effect on certain crops. Irrigating and finding other ways to water their crops in general when the soil gets dry can be very costly, as well. It all comes down to the top 12 inches of soil, and that can get very dry, very quickly.
ReplyDeleteAlso, remember a couple years ago when there were watering bans out near Victor? Also, that same year, there were restrictions on controlled burns due to the dry vegetation.
Multiple brush fires kept volunteer fire companies in the hilly areas very busy. Especially out in Ontario county, where some fairly large fires started.
Also, drought has a way of being "self perpetuating." That means, it dries out the air more than usual, and can make conditions even drier.
Drier soil can also lead to hotter temps in the summer.
Long story short....We can NEED rain very easily in western New York. And we have!
Here's the latest US drought monitor. As you can see, we're dry. And that's not a good thing considering its only Mid / Late April
ReplyDeletehttp://drought.unl.edu/DM/MONITOR.html