Little to No Rain in Sight for the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast

Avid leaf peepers in the Northeast and the mid-Atlantic are in luck. The dry weather pattern is set to continue for this corner of the country, keeping the colorful leaves clinging to the trees for a longer period of time. How long can you expect this dry streak to continue? Read on for all of the details.

Rain Hard to Come by for Parts of Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast

Although parts of the interior Northeast have seen scattered rain showers at times over the last several weeks, it has been nearly bone dry for much of the Interstate 95 corridor. Portions of the Northeast are now under moderate to severe drought designations, as defined by the U.S. Drought Monitor. This drought has been amplified by temperatures that have been trending well above average this fall.

Little to no rain has fallen in major cities such as Washington, D.C, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City. Unfortunately for those dry lawns, it could be days or weeks before the next batch of moisture arrives in the region.

The long stretch of dry days is creating drought conditions for the mid-Atlantic and beyond. The only silver lining is that this is the time of the year when water demand tends to decrease as the growing season comes to an end.

How dry has it been as of late? Going back to August 20, Islip, New York on Long Island has only recorded 0.40 of an inch of rain. This compares to the historical average of 720 inches over this same time period.

It has been a similar story in Trenton, New Jersey. This metro area has only seen 0.50 of an inch since August 20, equating to 6% of the historical average. Philadelphia has recorded approximately 10% of its average during this time frame while New York City has seen just over 20%.