Drought

[snowman19]

4 hours ago, CAPE said:

Some abnormally dry in eastern DE, with a small area of moderate drought at the immediate coast around Rehoboth.

I see how dry you guys are and I honestly don’t know how the NYC metro area isn’t under an official drought by now. Soil moisture is so low right now it’s not funny. Lawns are brown and one of the nearby rivers where I live is so low you can see the bottom, as along as I can remember (almost 30 years) I have never, ever seen this river this low. I used to fish in it as a kid. The dryness up this way has been staggering 

[snowman19]

First legit drought in the NYC metro area since 2002 and it’s getting worse: 

 

[IronTy]

Drought journal day 142.  The drought continues to persevere.  We received 1/2" more drought last night and it looks like more is incoming as we speak.  We'll continue to press on.  

[WinterWxLuvr]

15 minutes ago, IronTy said:

Drought journal day 142.  The drought continues to persevere.  We received 1/2" more drought last night and it looks like more is incoming as we speak.  We'll continue to press on.  

[BlizzardNole]

Extreme drought in a wide swath of eastern Mass.  How did that happen?  

[CAPE]

^It hasn't rained there much lately.

[nj2va]

On 8/15/2022 at 11:17 AM, IronTy said:

Drought journal day 142.  The drought continues to persevere.  We received 1/2" more drought last night and it looks like more is incoming as we speak.  We'll continue to press on.  

You can tell we’re not actually in a drought when two of the last few posts have been about actual droughts in NJ/MA. 

[WinterWxLuvr]

12 hours ago, nj2va said:

You can tell we’re not actually in a drought when two of the last few posts have been about actual droughts in NJ/MA. 

We might have a few dry places around, but I’d venture that most of the region is above normal. Here, right here, we are way above normal. 
 

And I’m sick of it lol

[nw baltimore wx]

Dry here but certainly not drought worthy.

[aldie 22]

40 minutes ago, WinterWxLuvr said:

We might have a few dry places around, but I’d venture that most of the region is above normal. Here, right here, we are way above normal. 
 

And I’m sick of it lol

Don't worry, you know when it will dry up out your way....should be plenty cold though lol

[WinterWxLuvr]

4 minutes ago, leesburg 04 said:

Don't worry, you know when it will dry up out your way....should be plenty cold though lol

Haha, this post is gold.

And true lol.

[CAPE]

Area of Abnormally dry just NE of my area now, although it seems like that is consistently where the rain goes when it misses my yard lately lol. Moderate drought continues for coastal DE.

https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?Northeast

[WxUSAF]

Whelp

[nw baltimore wx]

19 minutes ago, WxUSAF said:

Whelp

[H2O]

We have atmospheric tumbleweeds

[WxWatcher007]

12 hours ago, WxUSAF said:

Whelp

Any chance we can get that up here? lol 

[snowfan]

My yard looks like what you’d expect in august. Rock hard and cracking. 

[CAPE]

Here are a couple shots of the seasonal woodland wetland on the back of my property. This whole area is normally under a foot or so of water by mid February, as the water table breaks the surface. As of now just one small puddle, and most of the area isn't even muddy. I ordered 100 bucks of larvicide as usual, as one or 2 soaking rains over the next couple weeks will get it going. It normally dries up by late Spring with warmer/longer days and increase in evapotranspiration.

[vastateofmind]

8 hours ago, CAPE said:

Here are a couple shots of the seasonal woodland wetland on the back of my property. This whole area is normally under a foot or so of water by mid February, as the water table breaks the surface. As of now just one small puddle, and most of the area isn't even muddy. I ordered 100 bucks of larvicide as usual, as one or 2 soaking rains over the next couple weeks will get it going. It normally dries up by late Spring with warmer/longer days and increase in evapotranspiration.

Have followed your start-of season progress on your property the last several years, @CAPE...and this is kind of an interesting start to the warmer seasons for you. I guess I'm glad, in this case, that you're only starting with one small puddle!   

[CAPE]

5 hours ago, vastateofmind said:

Have followed your start-of season progress on your property the last several years, @CAPE...and this is kind of an interesting start to the warmer seasons for you. I guess I'm glad, in this case, that you're only starting with one small puddle!   

It is pretty clear where my mosquitoes come from lol. Hoping it stays as is, but as usual I have my knee boots ready, and 5 pounds of this-

https://www.domyown.com/altosid-prog-mosquito-larvicide-p-243.html

[stormy]

The forecast discussion from Sterling this morning indicated that most of our region is 3 - 4 inches below normal precipitation ytd.  

I have a live stream running through a portion of my property.  Usually, high water levels from heavy rains flush out siltation prone channels at least once a year. It has been 3 years since heavy rains produced water levels high enough to flush these channels. We get light to moderate rains occasionally but not heavy enough to produce run-off.

[vastateofmind]

3 hours ago, stormy said:

The forecast discussion from Sterling this morning indicated that most of our region is 3 - 4 inches below normal precipitation ytd.  

I have a live stream running through a portion of my property.  Usually, high water levels from heavy rains flush out siltation prone channels at least once a year. It has been 3 years since heavy rains produced water levels high enough to flush these channels. We get light to moderate rains occasionally but not heavy enough to produce run-off.

Your experience, and @CAPE's recent "puddle" update on his property notwithstanding....I *did* notice this weekend on the first big, comprehensive mowing on my property, that it was the first spring in a decade or more, when my mower didn't become mired in muddy and swampy ground. In fact, with the exception of a couple perpetually shady spots (through the winter), my mower tires were nearly clean and mud-free when I finished on Saturday. I haven't reliably measured precip on my property in a few years, so can't tell you how much of a deficit at which I might be.

SIDEBAR -- this will be my first full season with a Makita battery-powered lawn mower; I did a ton of research last year and settled on that model (though there are several GREAT battery-powered mower brands out there). Mine came with four 4.0 Ah, 18v batteries, and uses two at one time -- one set of two typically runs in the mower for about 45-60 min in my case, and since the charger (also included with the mower) takes a bout 45 minutes to recharge two batteries, you could conceivably keep swapping batteries for mowing and charging for any size of property.

This isn't practical for everyone, obviously. My property is kind of a typical suburban, .25 acre "postage stamp" (or "pie slice" since I live on a cul de sac), and I can usually do the front/back yards using just TWO Li-ion batteries in the Makita mower. I'm aware that battery life will diminish over the course of a couple years, but...the mower is lighter to push, it's quieter, it's...just a joy to use. I so wish I'd made this mower transition years earlier.

[stormy]

11 minutes ago, vastateofmind said:

Your experience, and @CAPE's recent "puddle" update on his property notwithstanding....I *did* notice this weekend on the first big, comprehensive mowing on my property, that it was the first spring in a decade or more, when my mower didn't become mired in muddy and swampy ground. In fact, with the exception of a couple perpetually shady spots (through the winter), my mower tires were nearly clean and mud-free when I finished on Saturday. I haven't reliably measured precip on my property in a few years, so can't tell you how much of a deficit at which I might be.

SIDEBAR -- this will be my first full season with a Makita battery-powered lawn mower; I did a ton of research last year and settled on that model (though there are several GREAT battery-powered mower brands out there). Mine came with four 4.0 Ah, 18v batteries, and uses two at one time -- one set of two typically runs in the mower for about 45-60 min in my case, and since the charger (also included with the mower) takes a bout 45 minutes to recharge two batteries, you could conceivably keep swapping batteries for mowing and charging for any size of property.

This isn't practical for everyone, obviously. My property is kind of a typical suburban, .25 acre "postage stamp" (or "pie slice" since I live on a cul de sac), and I can usually do the front/back yards using just TWO Li-ion batteries in the Makita mower. I'm aware that battery life will diminish over the course of a couple years, but...the mower is lighter to push, it's quieter, it's...just a joy to use. I so wish I'd made this mower transition years earlier.

You create an interesting consideration for me and I appreciate your thoughts!  You are obviously thrilled with your battery powered lawnmower.  I made the transition to battery powered drills, screwdrivers in small tools years ago and I love them. I recently had a friend encourage me to think about a battery powered chainsaw.  He says that a commercial grade heavy duty saw does an amazing job.

[stormy]

Only 25% of normal rainfall to date in March in Augusta.

Prominent SER threatens potential rain through Saturday.

[MDstorm]

On 3/17/2023 at 6:15 AM, WxUSAF said:

Whelp

Bust

[MN Transplant]

38 minutes ago, MDstorm said:

Bust

Amazing, those 240 hour forecasts are usually right on!

[stormy]

WPC not optimistic about rain during the next 7 days

 

[mattie g]

Oh no! It's been so dry!!!!

[stormy]

Yes, it has been very dry for the last 30 days south, southeast and southwest of D.C..  Many areas only 25 - 50% of normal.  Only areas with normal precipitation are northwest of D.C.. The U.S.D.A. Drought Monitor lists D.C. proper as being abnormally dry.  During the past two weeks the percentage of Virginia abnormally dry has increased from 4% to 23%.  If this pattern continues, many will be evolving into drought conditions during the spring.

[mattie g]