In case there's still a soul out there who hasn't already figured this out, the drought of 2007-08 in Maryland is finished. Washed out. In fact, there's not an acre in the state that remains even "abnormally dry" according to the latest Drought Monitor map, out this morning.

The nearest spot with soil moisture, streamflow, rainfall or foliage health that still registers as "dry" is a speck of territory in the far southern end of West Virginia. Beyond that, moderate to extreme drought persists in the western counties of the Carolinas. But even that has moderated some in recent weeks.

We've gone from no drought at all on June 19, 2007, to a high of 87 percent of the state back on Oct. 9. Conditions began to improve in December, but even as recently as March 4, nearly half the state (47 percent) was still reporting drought conditions. But ample rains since dropped that percentage to zero by mid-May. Here are the details. 

We can thank an extraordinarily wet May - the second-wettest on record here since they began keeping track in 1871. There's more rain in the forecast for Saturday, so we may yet challenge the record of 8.71 inches, set back in 1989.

Anyway, here's a nifty animation of the drought as it waned during 2008. You can watch the 2007 animation by clicking here.

Posted by Frank Roylance at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

Rain over the last three days has brought the month's total to more than 4.6 inches at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. That's more than 1.8 inches of surplus for the month through Monday, and brings the deficit since Jan. 1 down to less than an inch. 

Here are the monthly surpluses (+) and deficits (-):

Jan.: -2.00 inches

Feb.: +0.78 inch

March: -1.56 inches

April: +1.84 inches (through Monday)

The 4.6-inch total for April also makes this the wettest April since ... well, since last year, when we absorbed 5 inches of rain. Normal for a complete April at BWI is 3 inches, but we've topped 4 inches of rain in April only seven times since 1980.

Here are some rain measurements for yesterday from around the region.

Maryland streamflow is abundant for the time being. Here's the realtime flow map. And groundwater reserves continue to rise.

Here's the chart for that monitoring well out in Granite, Baltimore County, we like to track. Looks like their gear failed Sunday just as the latest rains began. But it's up about 4 inches since April 1.

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Posted by Frank Roylance at 4:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The new Drought Monitor map is in this morning. As expected, it shows the recent rainfall (and there's more to come) has shrunk the region of the state that's still experiencing moderate drought conditions (tan on the map), from 27 percent to 22 percent.

Meanwhile, the region that is rated "abnormally dry" (yellow plus tan) has diminished from 51 percent to 36 percent. The portion of the state enjoying normal soil moisture and streamflow (white on the map) - including Baltimore and its suburbs - has jumped from 49 percent last week, to 63 percent this week. 

Streamflow looks better across most of the state, too. And the forecast promises more moisture this weekend, into Monday. Bad news for outdoor plans, but good news for gardens, crops, reservoirs and water tables. Here's a 30-day chart for a USGS monitoring well in Granite, Baltimore County.

Posted by Frank Roylance at 10:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Monday was the rainiest day at BWI-Marshall Airport since Feb. 1, and the improving precipitation picture is having the desired effect on the Baltimore region's reservoir system.

Rainfall over the past two days at BWI totaled 1.97 inches. That pushed the month's total to 3.25 inches, which is a quarter-inch wetter than the average April for the period 1971-2000. Monday's total was 1.32 inches. That was not quite a record for the date. Baltimore received 1.41 inches on April 21, 1918. 

Streamflow across the state is back in normal ranges, for now. But we remain in deficit for the calendar year-to-date, by about 2.5 inches.

The city's Department of Public Works reports the reservoir system is currently at more than 88 percent of its capacity, with more than 75 billion gallons in storage. That's up from 64 percent back in December, when authorities decided the continuing drought made it prudent to tap the Susquehanna River as a way to preserve supplies in the reservoirs.

Liberty Reservoir currently stands at 87 percent of capacity, up from 82 percent last month. Prettyboy is at 86 percent, up from 75 percent last month. Loch Raven stands at nearly 98 percent, up from 95 percent in March.

The new Drought Monitor map is being calculated today, and will be released Thursday morning. Here's how one of the city's reservoirs looked last fall.

  Sun photo by Jed Kirschbaum

Posted by Frank Roylance at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The new Drought Monitor map is out this morning, and it shows that recent rains - which have been more abundant to our south and east - have eased the severe drought conditions that have prevailed on the Lower Shore for many weeks.

In fact, "severe" drought conditions - which had encompassed more than 17 percent of the state - have entirely disappeared from this week's drought map. It's the first time since November that severe drought conditions have not been noted anywhere in Maryland. The assessments take into consideration rainfall, streamflow, soil moisture and plant health as assessed by satellite monitoring. 

That said, 27 percent of the state - in extreme Southern Maryland and the Lower Shore (tan on the map) - remains in "moderate" drought, including all the territory that had previously been ranked "severe."

And "abnormally dry" conditions (yellow) persist south of Baltimore, on both sides of the Bay.

But as damp as it has seemed, many streams in Maryland continue to run below their averages for this time of year. The fact is, we have not had abundant rainfall. What has fallen as been light - mostly drizzle and showers measured in fractions of an inch.

The forecast promises more of the same. Showers are likely again by late tomorrow, continuing through Saturday and perhaps into the evening. We'll see just a few more fractions of an inch, or more if thunderstorms break out. On the other hand, temperatures will be more springlike, reaching into the 70s today and tomorrow and Saturday before cooler weather returns. We could see temps in the 30s again by Sunday night after a cold front gets by us.

The norms for this time of year at BWI call for highs in the mid-60s, and lows in the low 40s.

Posted by Frank Roylance at 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

BWI picked up almost an inch and a half of rain last week. Other parts of the state saw even more, and the impact can be seen on this week's Drought Monitor map. It's out this morning, and reflects soil moisture, rain, and streamflow as of this past Tuesday.

The numbers show significant improvement, but extreme southern Maryland and the Lower Eastern Shore remain in some drought distress.

Rain reduced the "severe" drought zone in parts of Worcester and Wicomico counties. The percentage of the state experiencing severe drought slipped from 11.5 percent to 9.6 percent.

Conditions in the Baltimore area also improved. The northern tier of counties from Garrett, through Carroll, Baltimore, Harford and Cecil are once again enjoying normal moisture conditions, an increase from 31 percent of the state on last week's map, to 49 percent today. The gains allowed Baltimore City last week to shut off the flow of supplementary water from the Susquehanna River.

"Moderate" drought conditions, which prevailed last week from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge southward to St. Mary's County and Hooper's Island on the Eastern Shore, is limited now to extreme Southern Maryland and Dorchester County on the Shore.

Overall, just 51 percent of the state is still contending with "abnormally dry" or drought conditions, down from almost 69 percent last week.

On well water? Groundwater conditions are slowly improving, too. Here's a fresh look at the water table in a USGS monitoring well in Granite, Baltimore County. The record low on this well is 28.2 feet, reached in 2002. The median for this time of year is between 22 and 23 feet below the surface. It's currently at 25 feet and change. Still low, but climbing.

Continue reading "Last week's rain helped; drought persists" »

Posted by Frank Roylance at 10:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Yesterday's snow, sleet, freezing rain and rain pushed us over the 30-year average for precipitation in February. But we still haven't done much to reverse the 9-inch deficit we've accumulated since last April.

The NWS instruments at BWI recorded 1.44 inches of precipitation on Tuesday and Wednesday. That brought the month's total to 3.27 inches, a quarter-inch over the 30-year average of 3.02 inches for February. But deficits for seven of the previous nine months have left us with less reserve than we want heading into a new growing season and summer heat.

Here's how the precipitation totals stack up as departures from the longterm averages. Negative numbers are deficits, positive numbers are surpluses:

May 2007:  -2.95 inches

June 2007:  -1.23 inches

July: 2007:  -0.54 inch

August 2007:  -0.66 inch

September 2007:  -3.63 inches

October 2007:  +2.69 inches

November 2007: -1.60 inches

December 2007:  +0.68 inch

January 2008:  -2.00 inches

February 2008*: +0.25 inch

Total: -8.99 inches

* through 2/13/2008

Here's this week's Drought Monitor map, which does not reflect the recent precipitation.. 

Posted by Frank Roylance at 2:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The latest Drought Monitor map is out today, and it indicates no change in the proportion of Maryland still experiencing moderate to severe drought.

The map shows nearly 36 percent of Maryland - the Lower Shore and Southern Maryland - is still considered in drought, despite the recent rainfall. Almost 20 percent of the state, from Dorchester County south, and in extreme southern Calvert and lower St. Mary's counties on the Western Shore, remains in "extreme" drought, based on readings of streamflow, rainfall and soil moisture. That's all unchanged from the previous week's map.

The improvement in the past week has come farther north, where the northern tier of Maryland counties enjoyed some reductions in the portion of their real estate rated as "abnormally dry." The portion rated "normal" grew from 32 percent to 40 percent of the state.

Here's some data on streamflow across the state. Here's the status of groundwater in a monitoring well in Baltimore County. 

Posted by Frank Roylance at 3:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Maybe it was last week's snowfall. Whatever the explanation, the proportion of Maryland experiencing drought conditions has eased, according to the USDA's Drought Monitor map released this morning.

First, the region of Maryland where soil moisture, streamflow and precipitation add up to normal conditions for this time of year expanded from 11 percent to 32 percent of the state. The improvement appears to have come mainly in the northern tier, from northern Frederick, Carroll and Baltimore counties, to Harford and Cecil.

Abnormally dry conditions - or worse - now prevail in just 67 percent of the state, down from 88 percent on last week's map. Moderate to severe drought conditions prevail in almost 36 percent of the state, mainly south of the Bay Bridge on both sides of the Chesapeake. That's down from 63 percent last week.

The section still in severe drought - 20 percent of the state - includes the Lower Eastern Shore and extreme Southern Maryland. That's unchanged.

The USGS hydrological drought map is a bit different, reflecting only below-normal streamflow across the state. But the southern portions of the state are again the most severely affected.

This week's rain and snow or ice should improve things a bit more. But a great deal of precipitation is still needed throughout the region to bring groundwater and reservoirs back to where they need to be as we head into the next growing season.

Here's a full report from the USGS in Maryland.

Posted by Frank Roylance at 11:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

As drippy as it's been, it's easy to forget we're still in a drought. That's why yesterday's announcement from Baltimore water authorities - that they will be tapping the Susquehanna River next week to augment water supplies from the city's three reservoirs - came as a surprise to some.

How dry are we? Here are some facts from the U.S. Geological Survey:

RAINFALL: Although Baltimore (BWI) is about 7.5 inches behind the long-term average rainfall for this year, the deficit is more critical on the Eastern Shore. Since January, Worcester County has fallen 13 inches short of the average precipitation. Somerset and Wicomico are 11 inches in the red. So are Howard and Montgomery counties on the other side of the Bay.

STREAMFLOW: Three Maryland streams broke all-time low-flow records for November. The Patuxent, measured at Unity, busted a 63-year-old record, with a flow rate of 8.24 cubic feet per second. The average since 1944 is 22.8 cf/s. Nassawango Creek on the Eastern Shore broke a record that had stood since 1949. And St. Clement's Creek, in St. Mary's County, broke a 39-year-old record.

GROUNDWATER: Wells monitored by the USGS in Carroll and Harford counties reached record low levels for November. Groundwater levels were below normal in 17 of the 25 shallow, unconfined wells the agency watches. Another eight wells were at very low levels, including one in Baltimore County. The lowest levels were noted on Delmarva.

RESERVOIRS: Although the water in Baltimore's three reservoirs is now falling below 66 percent of capacity - triggering the decision to tap the Susquehanna - the level in Prettyboy has dropped to 53 percent. Prettyboy is used to feed the Gunpowder River, which flows to Loch Raven Reservoir and keeps it high enough to feed water to the Montebello filtration plant. Loch Raven was at 81 percent of capacity at the end of November. Liberty Reservoir, which feeds the Ashburton filtration plant, stood at 73 percent of capacity.

The Patuxent Reservoirs which serve Montgomery and Prince George's counties, are lower, at a combined 52 percent of capacity. Tridelphia stood at 60 percent at month's end. The Duckett reservoir was at 39 percent.

Posted by Frank Roylance at 3:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Sure, we're short of rain around here, and the creeks and wells are low, and they're already tapping the Susquehanna River to ease the pressure on Baltimore's reservoirs. But this isn't Atlanta. I received this email this morning from former Marylander Janice Nuckols:

"You should come here to Atlanta!  County I live in has had mandatory water restrictions for 2 years.  I’m seriously considering planting cactus next year.  I’ve called the “water police” on people who wash their cars or use water outdoors.  Can’t water outdoors, nurseries are going bankrupt and landscapers are out of jobs.  Car washes can only operate if they recycle the water. 

"We’re 20” down for the year.  They say next year isn’t any better.  Our governor and Alabama and Florida fight over water all the time.

"A few weeks ago I saw people buying 5 gallon bottles of water to stock pile in the grocery store.

"A couple of months ago, Stone Mountain was making snow with millions of gallons of water for a winter attraction on a day that was 80 degrees.  The outrage from people was unreal.  Stone Mountain stopped making the snow. 

Posted by Frank Roylance at 1:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
                    

Maybe this little drizzle will help, but the drought in Maryland grew a little worse over the past week. The federal government's latest Drought Monitor map is out, and it shows that 88 percent of Maryland remains abnormally dry, or worse.

The percentage of the state that remains in moderate hydrological (water supply) drought grew from 35 percent to 42 percent. The segment with normal conditions shrank from 15 percent to 11 percent.

Streamflow across central Maryland remains at or near record-low levels. And the USGS monitoring wells continue to decline. Here's a graph showing the decline in a well in Baltimore County, which resumed quickly after last month's rainfall. 

Posted by Frank Roylance at 5:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

The weekly Drought Monitor map is in, and it shows dramatic improvement from the previous week, thanks to five days of rain last week. But the drought persists across more than a third of the state.

Last week's rains erased all traces of "extreme" drought from the state's map. It had climbed to 66 percent by the 23rd, which was the day the rains started falling here.

The portion of the state still rated in "severe" drought, according to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture fell this week from 87 percent to just 35 percent. Most of that is concentrated in Southern Maryland and the southern half of the Eastern Shore. There's also a pocket of severe drought persisting in southern Frederick, western Montgomery and western Howard counties.

Eighty-four percent of the state continues to experience abnormally dry conditions, or worse, however. Only 15 percent enjoys normal moisture, up from 6.8 percent last week.

These ratings are based on a combination of factors, including soil moisture, stream flow, rainfall and satellite assessments of vegetation health.

In the meantime, the USGS reports stream flow across the state has improved, but many continue to be well below normal levels for this time of year. And ground water recovery has been uneven. This Baltimore County well clearly got a bump from last week's rains, but has quickly resumed its downward slippage since.

We still need more rain. The months of November through April are when the reservoirs and groundwater resources need to recharge. Evaporation is down, consumption is down and plant life isn't using as much water, so more flows into our reserves. But it still needs to fall from the sky first to be of any benefit.

The next opportunity for some rain? Sorry. None in the forecast. And Tropical Storm Noel is headed out to sea.

In the meantime, the feds have just launched a new Web site that brings together a wealth of information and data about the ongoing drought here and in other parts of the country. Here's the link.

Posted by Frank Roylance at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The U.S. Geological Survey has issued a sobering new release on Maryland's deepening drought conditions. Here it is in full:

You can read more about it here.

Posted by Frank Roylance at 10:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

NWS instruments at BWI clocked in a few more drops of rain overnight - a paltry 0.03 inch of the wet stuff. That brings the October total out there to all of 0.13 inch. And that's barely a third of what we had in September - 0.35 inch - which was a tenth of the normal rainfall for Baltimore in September.

Other locations - all "unofficial" - around the region, however, received more. Our gauge here at The Sun, on Calvert & Centre streets, recorded just 0.11 inch, most after midnight, bringing the three-day total to 0.49 inch. I forgot to check the WeatherDeck this morning because, quite honestly, I didn't know it had rained until I walked out to the car. 

Here are some readings from around the area. And here are some from farther afield.

But that's it for the foreseeable weather future. There is nothing in the forecast but sunshine and starlight, right into next week. All I can offer is more gorgeous autumn weather. Sorry.

Posted by Frank Roylance at 11:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

 The Maryland Department of the Environment has taken official notice of the deepening drought in Maryland. The MDE today issued a "Drought Watch" for communities in the Central and Eastern regions of the state - indicated by the deep blue and yellow colors on the map above. They extend from Frederick County east to Cecil, south to Howard and Baltimore, and the entire Eastern Shore.

Excluded from the watch are communities served by the Baltimore City and Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission water systems (green and light blue on the map). The two systems' water reserves are still considered "adequate."

The drought watch is the first stage in the state's Drought Management Plan. It does not impose any mandatory water bans, but steps up public oversight of water supplies and urges residents to monitor their own water use and conserve "whenever possible."

If the dry weather continues, the governor could issue a "Drought Warning," or declare a "Drought Emergency," which would impose mandatory restrictions on water use across all or parts of the state. 

Some localities in Maryland have already imposed local water restrictions because of diminishing groundwater reserves from the dry weather, which began in mid-April. AT BWI, precipitation totals are now more than 9 inches below normal for the year.

During the last major drought in Maryland, in 2001-2002, dropping water supplies caused then-Gov. Parris N. Glendening to declare a Drought Warning in January 2002 for 15 counties in Central and Eastern Maryland. Baltimore began drawing water from the Susquehanna River to preserve its own reservoir supplies. In April, with rain fall 13 inches below normal since the previous September, he declared a Drought Emergency in Central Maryland but excluded communities served by the Baltimore and Washington water systems.

In August 2002, the Baltimore reservoirs were at their lowest levels in history - 47 percent of capacity. The governor tightened water use restrictions and expanded them to include the urban regions. Some Maryland communities began planning to truck water in, while others imposed bans on new construction.

In October 2002, six inches of rain fell on the region, the wettest October in seven years. The wet weather continued, bans were lifted and by June 2003, the city's reservoirs were back at capacity.

Here's the Drought Monitor map for Maryland, showing that almost half the state is now in a "Severe" agricultural drought. And here the hydrological drought map, showing where stream flow has been most severely affected. 

Posted by Frank Roylance at 10:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

It's been 19 days since any measureable rain has fallen at BWI, and nearly half the state is now in "severe" drought, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That's up from less than one percent last week.

The latest USDA Drought Monitor map is out this morning, and it shows only Garrett County enjoying normal moisture, based on measures of rainfall, soil moisture, stream flow and satellite data on damage to vegetation.

Ninety-three percent of the state is experiencing at least "abnormally dry conditions. "Moderate" drought or worse persists across 86 percent of the state, and 47 percent - from southern Frederick, Howard Montgomery, Arundel and all of Southern Maryland to most of the Eastern Shore south of the Bay Bridge - is in "severe" drought.

Our drought is an extension of even more severe conditions that continue to parch the Deep South, especially from Kentucky and Tennessee, to the Carolinas and Alabama.

Stream flows and groundwater levels in Maryland have begun to reach record lows, and much of the state, on both sides of the bay, is in a "severe" hydrological drought, according to the US Geological Survey.

Posted by Frank Roylance at 10:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The deepening drought sent flow rates in four Maryland streams, and levels in three groundwater monitoring wells to record lows in September, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The red dots on the map above show where stream gauges are recording record-low flows today. The data on the new Maryland records should be posted on the agency's Maryland Web site on Wednesday. Here are the highlights:

Gauges on the Monocacy River at Bridgeport in northern Frederick County, hit a 64-year low last month, with an average flow of just 1.8 cubic feet per second. That broke the previous record low of 2.3 cf/s, set in 1943. The average September flow there is 21.1 cf/s.

On Nassawango Creek, near Snow Hill, the average flow last month was 1.3 cf/s, breaking the record low of 1.6 cf/s, set there in 1980. The average September flow since records began in 1949 is 8.3 cf/s.

The Patuxent River gauge near Unity, in Montgomery County, set a new record of 2.9 cf/s last month. That broke the prior record low flow of 3.8 cf/s set there in 2002. Record keeping at that gauge began in 1944. The average flow there in September is 16.2 cf/s.

And on Winters Run, in Harford County, the USGS gauge recorded a new low flow of 9.9 cf/s, busting the old record opf 10.4 cf/s set in 1986. The average flow in September there is 27.9 cf/s.

Three groundwater monitoring wells in Charles, Carroll and Wicomico counties also reached record September lows last month, according to USGS hydrologist Wendy McPherson. 

In Charles County, groundwater dropped to 11.48 feet below ground level, breaking the odl record of 11.05 feet, set in 2002. The average is 9.12 feet.

In Carroll, the well water dropped to a record 4.62 feet below the surface, just breaking the old record of 4.59 feet, also set in 2002. The September average is 3.71 feet.

In Wicomico, water in the the USGS well fell to 8.86 feet below the surface, breaking the previous record of 8.60 feet, set in 1995. The average there in September is 6.61 feet.

Nearly 90 percent of the state was in moderate or severe agricultural drought last week, according to the Department of Agriculture's Drought Monitor.  Here's the USGS map for hydrological drought, which shows both the Eastern Shore and the Western Shore in severe drought. 

Posted by Frank Roylance at 4:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)