close
close

Apre-salomemanzo

Breaking: Beyond Headlines!

    • When will parched North Jersey get a drop of rain?
    aecifo

    When will parched North Jersey get a drop of rain?

    Umito Posted on

    2 minutes of reading

    play

    October could end up being the driest month on record in the state, as the unusually dry stretch of weather New Jersey is experiencing is expected to continue into early November.

    Warnings issued by the National Weather Service about increased wildfire risk remain in effect, asking residents to extinguish or properly dispose of any materials that smoke or could be a “potential ignition source,” even cigarette butts.

    The National Weather Service is not forecasting any chance of rain until late evening on October 31st or early November 1st. If it doesn’t rain by Halloween, it will be the driest month North Jersey has seen since 1949.

    “In the month of October, we only recorded a trace of precipitation, what we even call non-measurable,” said James Tomasini, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Upton, New York.

    Story continues below photo gallery

    The driest month on record in Bergen County was June 1949, with 0.25 inches of rain, according to the New Jersey State Climatologist’s Office. This is the lowest amount in any month since 1895 when records were first kept.

    The driest October since 1895 in Bergen County was 0.31 inches in 1963. Normally, Bergen County receives 4.4 inches of rain in October.

    Dry conditions conducive to forest fires

    Conditions are ripe for wildfires, and North Jersey has seen several in recent days.

    A wildfire in Livingston near Route 10 and the Eisenhower Parkway in Essex County, which began Saturday and continued burning Sunday, had consumed 140 acres but was 60 percent contained. The New Jersey Forest Fire Department assisted the Livingston Fire Department with 15 engines and 45 firefighters. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

    A large brush fire at a forest preserve on Drew University the Madison campus on Saturday was brought under control by 1 p.m.

    And New Jersey Wildland Fire Department crews worked several days last week to contain a wildfire in the area of ​​Jacobs Road in Rockaway Township in Morris County. The fire was 90% contained to 77 acres as of October 23.

    How does the dry spell impact fall foliage?

    The dry spell also dulls the brilliant fall colors New Jerseyans love to celebrate in October and causes trees to fall earlier than usual. Warm days and frigid nights made the colors pop, said John Scala, a private meteorologist based in Pennsylvania.

    “What’s happening is the dry weather is doing two things: it’s muting the colors now and the leaves are falling like crazy. We’re past the peak. This is as good as it’s going to get,” said he said of local views of fall foliage.

    “Very low relative humidity is associated with a fire threat, and this is likely to continue into November,” he said. Relative humidity was between 25% and 30%, the National Weather Service said in a special weather statement issued at 3 a.m. Sunday.

    Dry weather, Scala said, is associated with an upper air pattern called a ridge, characterized by clear skies, a lack of precipitation and a lack of storms. This has led to “short-term drought” conditions in the New York metropolitan area and Pennsylvania, where the ground is drying out and approaching a “60-day precipitation deficit,” he said. he declared.

    Impact on drinking water reservoirs

    Over the past 30 days, Bergen County has received 0.8 inches of rain, a deficit of 3.4 inches compared to normal for that period. Passaic County received 0.7 inches during that period, a deficit of 3.7 inches. Morris County received 0.7 inches, a deficit of 3.6 inches, and Sussex County received 0.5 inches of rain, a deficit of 3.7 inches.

    As a result, levels in North Jersey’s drinking water reservoirs are falling rapidly. All three major Hackensack River reservoirs in Bergen County operated by Veolia, including the Oradell, were near 100% capacity last August. Today, they are just above 60 percent, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection, which is about average for this time of year. The Veolia system supplies water to 800,000 residents in Bergen and Hudson counties.

    And the Wanaque Reservoir, operated by the North Jersey District Water Supply Commission, which had recorded above-average levels for much of the summer, has now fallen below the October average. It should be in the upper 60% range.

    It was at 62% on October 1, but was down to 50.7% on Friday, according to the agency. The Wanaque provides water to more than 100 municipalities in North Jersey, from Alpine to Newark. The region’s drinking water reservoirs are relatively small and therefore tend to empty quickly.

    Umito
    View all posts

    You Might Also Like