From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to cover? Let us know! The Philadelphia region is facing a drought watch after experiencing record-low rainfall in October and very little rainfall in September. Officials across Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware are encouraging residents to voluntarily conserve water as little relief to the dry spell is expected in the coming days.
The dry conditions have also increased the risk of brush and forest fires, prompting environmental agencies in the region to issue bans on open fires, such as bonfires. Firefighters in New Jersey have been battling a number of fires across the state — most recently in South Jersey’s Wharton State Forest — which are spreading quickly because of drought conditions. Record dryness The Philadelphia region has faced an extremely dry period since September, and October was the driest month on record for much of the area.
The last time the region faced such severe drought was in 2002. Droughts are more likely to develop with persistent dry weather patterns, said Steve Seman, professor of meteorology and atmospheric science at Penn State University. “We’ve had many areas of high pressure that have been persistent over the eastern United States, and that has allowed dry air from Canada to really dominate, and there’s just not a lot of opportunities for very widespread rainfall,” said Seman.
Philadelphia alone has gone without rain for 38 days, brea.
