Posted on 06/04/2023 2:03:33 AM PDT by EBH
Abnormally dry weather combined with high temperatures among other factors have placed portions of the Northeast at risk of experiencing a "flash drought," and next week's rainfall may not be enough to stave it off.
Abnormally dry conditions during the month of May have placed portions of the Northeast on the brink of a "flash drought."
Just as the name suggests, flash droughts are bouts of short-term drought conditions that are fueled by lower-than-average rainfall, abnormally high temperatures, strong winds and increased sunlight.
These elements have been brewing across the northeast, with the driest areas in eastern Pennsylvania. This area, AccuWeather Meteorologist Jake Sojda said, is "at the greatest risk of a flash drought, as these are areas that can get quite hot in the summer months."
Allentown and Reading, Pennsylvania, along with Binghamton, New York, are a few cities that experienced abnormally dry conditions throughout May. All received less than an inch of rainfall, respectively.
Of the three, Binghamton, New York, received the highest rainfall total -- a staggering 0.71 inches, a full 18% of the city's normal 3.92 inches. Allentown had only 6% (0.24 inches) of its normal rainfall (3.79 inches). Reading only had 0.09 inches of rain throughout the month, amounting to 2% of its normal 3.67 inches of rain.
The heat and lack of rainfall "combined with the fact that the next several weeks will feature the most intense solar energy of the year, puts this area at particular risk for a flash drought to form," Sojda said. "This area is also not forecast to get much significant rainfall for at least the next couple of weeks."
Even with some localized downpours in the forecast for the area into the weekend, Sojda said it likely wouldn't be enough to stave off a significant impending drought threat.
Conditions associated with flash droughts also come into play during heat waves, as the same pattern that causes the dryness and the lack of rain also produces the heat, AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dave Dombek explained.
"Heat will breed drought and drought will breed heat," he said.
Cities in the Midwest have seen similar dry conditions, with the lack of rain across Illinois, Iowa and Indiana placing the region at risk of experiencing a quick-hitting drought, AccuWeather National Reporter Emmy Victor reported. In Chicago, less than an inch of rainfall fell over the past month, making it the second driest May on record for the city.
"The upper five, six, seven inches of soil is rapidly drying out, and that's one of the first clues to the potential for a flash drought," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson told Victor.
A little to the north in Lower Michigan, Cadillac, Ludington and Manistee all reported between 15% to 25% of normal precipitation since May, according to Sojda. However, he added that most of the rain fell during the first couple of days in May with very little rain in the areas since then.
In the days ahead, the weather in the Midwest is forecast to remain warm and dry while a cold front is forecast to wash over the Northeast over the weekend, bringing a cooldown to parts of New England. While there is the risk of thunderstorms, AccuWeather forecasters say the weather across the Northeast may remain dry given the "hit-or-miss nature" of the wet weather.
Additional reporting by AccuWeather National Reporter Emmy Victor.
In Indiana we don’t get any rain. This is hardly a flash drought. It is a continuation of last year which was also drought like. We had very little precipitation in the winter too.
Things are already turning brown and there is no rain in the forecast.
Ditto your Yup.
Some of it's already a little crunchy in northcentral PA.
A while back I read an article about scientists experimenting with producing electricity from the humidity in the air, another green new deal. Perhaps they have succeeded.
Accuweather is trying to hype events for their commercial value. If you get a dry spell which can occur any time it is called a Flash Drought. It reminds me of the time theree was a cold spell years ago and the weather channel guy set a record for the most times saying “Nor-easter” in a single news report. When you don’t have destructive hurricanes to talk about, you are thankful for things like a polar vortex or el nino to talk about. Humans have some sort of tendency to need bad news. Weather reporting can help.
The pollen is incredible this year.
Its usually limited/washed-away by regular rains, but no rain in 3 weeks, during blooming season, with full sun, mean a parked car is covered in yellow-green dust within 48 hours.
Where I live in W. Oregon it has not rained since May 09. Unwatered lawns are already going into summer mode.
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