Severe Drought Remains In Parts Of Maryland July 20 2023

Thursday, July 20, 2023

They are NOT wrong. Some areas in central Maryland are experiencing Severe Drought conditions as of today. If you have been in the path of one or a few thunderstorms, consider yourself lucky. Other places have missed out, and the ground is parched!

It has been a while since I reported on the drought, but the problems remain. The last few weeks have brought occasional heavy rain producing storms. Some areas have received downpours with over one inch of rain, with some places getting over 5 inches at a time.

Maryland Drought Map

The US Drought Monitor has highlighted the impact of the recent rain. It has carved out the drought impact away from Northeast Maryland and much of Delmarva (including Delaware).

Hardest Hit: West of Baltimore. Counties include:

Carroll, Howard, Fredrick, and Montgomery.

A Moderate Drought does remain near Hagerstown and Annapolis, but they have seen more rain than Westminster, Frederick, and Mount Airy.

What is fascinating is the contrast of severe drought to normal conditions as close as 20 miles away. We can see this between Westminster to eastern Baltimore County.

Maryland has 59% percent in the dry to very dry rating. 

Moderate Drought affecting 33%

Estimated Population in Drought Areas: 3,310,571

Rainfall Yesterday

This estimate from yesterday is an example of the haves and have-nots! An estimate of 3.96″ fell between Pylesville and Darlington. The bulk of Harford County got 1 to 3+ inches of rain, while Carroll County missed out again.

Rainfall Measuring In Baltimore

The weather pattern has turned more favorable, as shown in the observations at Baltimore’s BWI. After each month, this year brought below-normal precipitation through May. June and so far into July have actually been slightly above normal. That has helped with some crop and lawn growth, even limiting our fire danger. However, we have quite a hole to dig out of.

Using the reporting station for Baltimore at BWI Airport, we can get a sense of what the region has been experiencing. I compared the monthly observations of precipitation to the average. We can see the only month above average was April.

• Jan -1.40
• Feb -0.72
• Mar -2.52
• Apr +0.73
• May -3.30
• June +0.33
• July + 0.97
• TOTAL = -5.91”, which is roughly a 40% improvement from last month. It still is a big hole to fill.

According to the US Drought Monitor:

States vary historically on what the impacts can be. However, here is what can be expected.

• Honey production declines
• Irrigation use increases; hay and grain yields are lower than normal
• Trees and landscaping are stressed; fish are stressed
• Voluntary water conservation is requested; reservoir and lake levels are below normal capacity
• Wildfires and ground fires increase

PENNSYLVANIA

Pennsylvania has improved: Moderate Drought affecting 20%

Estimated Population in Drought Areas: 1,152,814

Hardest hit local areas include southern York and Adams Counties.

VIRGINIA

Virginia has 19%

Estimated Population in Drought Areas: 1,598,172

Northeast Region:

U.S. Drought Monitor Report

Heavy rains again soaked much of the Northeast Region last week. Very little dryness remains to the east of a line from the Chesapeake Bay to the east shore of Lake Ontario, with D1 confined to a few spots in south New Jersey and in part of the New York City metro. Heavy rains in the central Appalachians have also nearly eliminated dryness in West Virginia. But large dry areas persist from northern Virginia and Maryland northward through western sections of Pennsylvania and New York, with severe drought (D2) covering central Maryland and adjacent south-central Pennsylvania. According to USDA, 33 percent of pastures in Maine are in poor or very poor condition, as are 16 percent of Pennsylvania’s pastureland.

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RESTATING MY MESSAGE ABOUT DYSLEXIA

I am aware there are some spelling and grammar typos and occasional other glitches. I take responsibility for my mistakes and even the computer glitches I may miss. I have made a few public statements over the years, but if you are new here, you may have missed it: I have dyslexia and found out during my second year at Cornell University. It didn’t stop me from getting my meteorology degree and being the first to get the AMS CBM in the Baltimore/Washington region. One of my professors told me that I had made it that far without knowing and to not let it be a crutch going forward. That was Mark Wysocki, and he was absolutely correct! I do miss mistakes in my own proofreading. The autocorrect spell check on my computer sometimes does an injustice to make it worse. I also can make mistakes in forecasting. No one is perfect at predicting the future. All of the maps and information are accurate. The ‘wordy’ stuff can get sticky.  There has been no editor that can check my work when I needed it and have it ready to send out in a newsworthy timeline. Barbara Werner is a member of the web team that helps me maintain this site. She has taken it upon herself to edit typos when she is able. That could be AFTER you read this. I accept this and perhaps proves what you read is really from me… It’s part of my charm.

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