Dry weather in NJ

As you can see from this image, courtesy of the Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center, most of central and northern NJ has received about 25% less rainfall than average in the last 90 days.

Two of Every Animal?

Living in New Jersey this month may make the average resident consider going to their local hardware store to pick up materials used in building an ark. Coming into today, June 16, we have had 7 straight days with at least a trace of rain. During that period, we have received just under three inches of rain. For the month of June, we have already received over 5 inches of rain in a month during which we normally receive about 4 inches for the entire month. So, unquestionably, it has been a wet month.

On top of that, May was also a fairly wet month. On average, most areas of the central part of the state received about an inch of rain more than normal. Some areas of the state even received several inches of hail yesterday!

What may surprise many people however, is that although we have certainly had a wet spring, that wetness has only served to bring our rain total for the past year to a normal amount. This is due to the fact that we had an extremely dry winter. February was one of the driest months on record with most areas of the state receiving less than an inch of rain, or rain equivalent. During February, 19 of 28 days were sunny and completely rain-free, and on only two days was there precipitation greater than a tenth of an inch. Overall, February was sunny, dry and mild. January and March were also dryer than normal. So, in reality, the wet spring we are now having only served to make up for the dry winter. This has allowed us to avoid what appeared to be the start of a drought just a few months ago.

While some areas of the state are experiencing, or are on the cusp of, flooding of local streams and rivers, the recent rains should keep us drought free this summer. The bad news is that the latter half of this week will see additional rain.