MN Transplant Posted April 14, 2023 Share Posted April 14, 2023 On 4/14/2023 at 1:29 PM, mdhokie said: I thought I remembered some sort of water restrictions a long time ago, and found this article from 1999:Washingtonpost.com: Region Learned Lessons From Past Droughts I was 19 at the time so didn't really care about water :). Thought the article had some good insight into what happens when we get dry. One thing people around here really don't think about are wells. Even here in howard county the entire western part of the county is not served by public water. Might be 20-25% of the county population. Expand It is funny, that article was posted on August 17th, 1999. In August/Sept of 1999 at DCA there was over 15" of rain All we need to do is complain! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdhokie Posted April 14, 2023 Share Posted April 14, 2023 @mattie g might care more if they put pool filling restrictions up and cramp his swim schedules! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdhokie Posted April 14, 2023 Share Posted April 14, 2023 On 4/14/2023 at 1:34 PM, MN Transplant said: It is funny, that article was posted on August 17th, 1999. In August/Sept of 1999 at DCA there was over 15" of rain All we need to do is complain! Expand LOL, if only that worked in winter as well. I edited the post to change the link to the whole archive. Its kind of fun reading through it from start to "omg too much rain". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pazzo83 Posted April 14, 2023 Share Posted April 14, 2023 On 4/14/2023 at 1:30 PM, MN Transplant said: I think it is precisely because we are in a relatively wet part of the country and don't get droughts that the dry periods seem so anomalous. Our vegetation is acclimated to regular precipitation and then there are H2O's water supply comments. The concern arises if the dry pattern continues into summer. That's where the evapotranspiration maxes out. And the other problem is that as we go into later summer the chances for organized convection nearly vanish. So, you get only spotty dry relief. I guess I'm saying that this is a notable start to the year and could portend problems down the road, but a few well-placed systems could also bring us right back to normal. So, only a slightly elevated level of concern so far. Expand Exactly - by late summer we're banking on tropical systems, which might be an issue this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattie g Posted April 14, 2023 Share Posted April 14, 2023 On 4/14/2023 at 1:34 PM, mdhokie said: @mattie g might care more if they put pool filling restrictions up and cramp his swim schedules! Expand You definitely have that right! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MN Transplant Posted April 14, 2023 Share Posted April 14, 2023 On 4/14/2023 at 1:39 PM, pazzo83 said: Exactly - by late summer we're banking on tropical systems, which might be an issue this year. Expand The good news, I just ran a very rudimentary analysis of Jan-Apr vs May-July precip, and there is a positive correlation but it is so slight as to pretty much consider it random. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WxUSAF Posted April 14, 2023 Share Posted April 14, 2023 On 4/14/2023 at 1:48 PM, MN Transplant said: The good news, I just ran a very rudimentary analysis of Jan-Apr vs May-July precip, and there is a positive correlation but it is so slight as to pretty much consider it random. Expand May and June are our wettest months and developing Nino can’t hurt that. So we could fill that deficit in a hurry if things align. But if not, will be a crispy July-August. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MN Transplant Posted April 14, 2023 Share Posted April 14, 2023 Ian's on top of it: https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2023/04/14/drought-conditions-dry-dc-virginia-maryland/ Moderate drought for the DC area https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?VA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthArlington101 Posted April 14, 2023 Share Posted April 14, 2023 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MN Transplant Posted April 14, 2023 Share Posted April 14, 2023 On 4/14/2023 at 2:41 PM, NorthArlington101 said: Expand Where's the winter 23-24 thread!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WxWatcher007 Posted April 14, 2023 Share Posted April 14, 2023 On 4/14/2023 at 2:43 PM, MN Transplant said: Where's the winter 23-24 thread!? Expand Haven’t you heard? It’s never going to snow again so the thread was discontinued. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Its a Breeze Posted April 14, 2023 Share Posted April 14, 2023 On 4/14/2023 at 12:45 PM, mattie g said: Really the point I'm trying to make is that we don't really "drought." We get dry, but how often are things so bad that we need to think of it as a drought? And if we're like 5" below normal precip over a few months, people start talking about it, but if we're 5" above normal precip over a few months, there's virtually no discussion. I'm definitely playing devil's advocate in here, but referring to dry periods as "drought" does trigger me Expand Got it. But, it's not us. "Drought" is used by NOAA, USDA, et al. when specific conditions are met. We've been below normal since late fall (actually we've only had one above normal month since August,) but we weren't in "drought" conditions until mid-late March. And even still, it's not the whole region. If we were in a region where it wasn't constantly wet, and we were 5" above normal, it would be talked about as flooding would likely start to be a concern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormy Posted April 14, 2023 Share Posted April 14, 2023 On 4/14/2023 at 7:59 PM, Its a Breeze said: Got it. But, it's not us. "Drought" is used by NOAA, USDA, et al. when specific conditions are met. We've been below normal since late fall (actually we've only had one above normal month since August,) but we weren't in "drought" conditions until mid-late March. And even still, it's not the whole region. If we were in a region where it wasn't constantly wet, and we were 5" above normal, it would be talked about as flooding would likely start to be a concern. Expand I am happy to see more people connect with the reality of an expanding NOAA classified "moderate drought" over northern and eastern Virginia. 3 weeks ago, I seemed to be the only one concerned. Droughts cost billions of dollars every year. They create financial disaster for the people who feed America. I live in an agricultural area and have good friends who produce the crops that feed America, including Mattie. Drought causes crop failures and results in higher prices for everyone at the supermarket. Depending on severity, drought can severely affect every person in many ways. I was friends with the former state climatologist for Virginia, the late Dr. Patrick Michaels. Dr. Michaels pointed out that to have a good growing season Virginia needs to go into the growing season wet, because of very high evaporation rates in May through August. We are going into the growing season very dry this year. The last 45 days since March 1, I have received 30% of normal rainfall. We are on the way to be declared a drought disaster area before the summer is over unless this pattern breaks down. It probably will change because of the changing Enso condition. We can only pray for this change, for You, Me and even Mattie. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
32º Posted April 15, 2023 Share Posted April 15, 2023 I tilled my 100'x24' garden today. The soil was more dry than I ever remember for this time in the spring. At least the soil, now tilled can retain more rain as it occurs. With this prelude, I am wondering what is in store for us this summer. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nj2va Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormy Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 On 4/16/2023 at 12:37 PM, nj2va said: Expand The CPC is wrong more often than right with these 6-10 and 8-14 day maps. If we had received the rain predicted by the 6 - 10 day CPC forecast year to date, we would be 5 inches above normal vs. 5 inches below normal. On 4/16/2023 at 12:37 PM, nj2va said: Expand The CPC is wrong more often than right with these 6-10 and 8-14 day forecasts. If we had received rainfall year to date based on these 6 - 10 day maps, we would be 5 inches above normal vs. 5 inches below normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nw baltimore wx Posted April 17, 2023 Share Posted April 17, 2023 As @MN Transplant said, rain is a imby sport, and if I hadn’t gotten under that storm on Saturday, I’d be all in on drought. Over 2” here for the weekend while the majority got much less than the forecasted .25 - .50”. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAPE Posted April 17, 2023 Share Posted April 17, 2023 On 4/17/2023 at 9:51 AM, nw baltimore wx said: As @MN Transplant said, rain is a imby sport, and if I hadn’t gotten under that storm on Saturday, I’d be all in on drought. Over 2” here for the weekend while the majority got much less than the forecasted .25 - .50”. Expand I watered the grass and some of my plants yesterday. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleocene Posted April 17, 2023 Share Posted April 17, 2023 Got a few sprinkles over the weekend but no substantial rain. Shady areas still have a good deal of soil moisture, but things are drying out as the sun gets stronger. I had planted a few small trees hoping for a rainy spring and I find myself dumping hose water on them---blech. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormchaserchuck1 Posted April 19, 2023 Share Posted April 19, 2023 These cloudless days really accelerate drought, it seems. It's like time is accelerated x1.618 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAPE Posted April 19, 2023 Share Posted April 19, 2023 On 4/19/2023 at 1:50 PM, Stormchaserchuck1 said: These cloudless days really accelerate drought, it seems. It's like time is accelerated x1.618 Expand Probably more like x 1.414. Impact likely offset by dilation though. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormchaserchuck1 Posted April 20, 2023 Share Posted April 20, 2023 The answer to drought is more water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George BM Posted April 20, 2023 Share Posted April 20, 2023 Update: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H2O Posted April 20, 2023 Share Posted April 20, 2023 My grass is already brown and crunchy like August Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattie g Posted April 20, 2023 Share Posted April 20, 2023 On 4/20/2023 at 2:35 PM, H2O said: My grass is already brown and crunchy like August Expand Interesting. Mine is green and lush and just yesterday got second mow in the last 10 days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maestrobjwa Posted April 20, 2023 Share Posted April 20, 2023 On 4/20/2023 at 1:28 AM, Stormchaserchuck1 said: The answer to drought is more water. Expand Buuuuuuuuuu (no literally that's your profile pic ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormchaserchuck1 Posted April 20, 2023 Share Posted April 20, 2023 lol I believe! These 2-3" days of rain are followed by 1 good day to be outside, then it's dry again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H2O Posted April 20, 2023 Share Posted April 20, 2023 On 4/20/2023 at 2:59 PM, mattie g said: Interesting. Mine is green and lush and just yesterday got second mow in the last 10 days. Expand It’s not dry everywhere but I have patches that are turning brown and crispy to walk on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
North Balti Zen Posted May 4, 2023 Author Share Posted May 4, 2023 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MN Transplant Posted May 16, 2023 Share Posted May 16, 2023 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now