Yes, 97/98, but even so, much less worse than 01/02:
http://climate.rutgers.edu/stateclim_v1/data/south_njhistprecip.html
http://climate.rutgers.edu/stateclim_v1/data/south_njhistprecip.html
Drought conditions
- Thread starter Boyd
- Start date
Pretty much the same here. Have been watching the radar and there have been some big storms headed this way, but they've been breaking apart and missing me so far.
Look at the big hole in the radar for south jersey (4:37 PM). Some strange forces at work. Nothing happening right now. Maybe it will succumb to the amorous advances of this rainstorm later on tonight.
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Sometimes a dry slot occurs when there is heavy precipitation to the west. At that point there was some incredible downbursts in eastern Maryland causing the hole in the rain shield. Same principal occurred this past winter on one of the days we were forcast to get over half a foot but ended up with a dusting; there was a massive whiteout in eastern PA causing a dry slot and no snow for us.
Well the pines didn't get much, but it's better than nothing and should keep the fire danger lower for a few days. Look how much they got around Philadelphia - Woodbury got 6 to 8 inches!
We got very little rain from this one. Between both storms combined, I doubt there was any more 1/4". It never rained hard at all. Interesting weather patterns, the Pines are still in moderate drought condition while most of the rest of NJ has recovered.
The whole state was in the clear for a couple days after the last rain, but now the pines are back to drought condition. And no rain at all in the forecast for the next week. The leaves have just started changing down here too, noticed some nice touches of color for the first time today.
Some are changing early due to the stress from lack of moisture. We're seeing a lot of leaf droplocally, which doesn't bode will for autumn color.
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Yesterday Ro and I were down at Parker Preserve doing our monthly plant surveys at test sites. One site is an armored spillway on the main dike road directly south of the north gate. We've been tallying plants there for 4 years. There've been times when the flow over the spillway was low, BUT. Now there is not only no water going over, there is no water in the bogs on either side - where it once was several feet deep. It was sad to see the parched land and hurting plants. It's going to take a humongous amount of rain to fill those bogs back to where they were. I hope that precipitation is not in the form of snow this coming winter, nor that we get it all at once, 'cause that, too, would be a disastrous.
Ro took these pix at Parker Preserve a few days ago.
Horrible, thinking about effects on wildlife now and during the coming winter.
This is the first bog after entering at North Gate and proceeding straight ahead. Normally it has several feet of water in it
Horrible, thinking about effects on wildlife now and during the coming winter.
This is the first bog after entering at North Gate and proceeding straight ahead. Normally it has several feet of water in it
The Northern part of NJ is now under a drought watch, including Northern Ocean County. But apparently conditions aren't bad enough to qualify for a drought watch in the rest of the pines.
http://www.nj.gov/dep/drought/
http://www.nj.gov/dep/drought/
Same as above, further down that dike road at the first armored spillway. Normally this has several feet water depth. Now not only the waterway but the whole bog is bone dry. The dike road is on the left; that pipe in normal conditions is under feet of water and invisible from above.
