Drought is Down, but not Totally Out
Latest drought statistics released
24-hour rainfall totals, in inches, ending 8 a.m. Monday. Courtesy National Weather Service.
I am sure many readers remember the headlines of last summer when the word drought was on the menu for the first time in almost a decade. We had just experienced a four-year stretch (2003-2006) of well-above-average precipitation, including our second wettest year on record (2003). Yet, by the middle of last summer, much of the D.C. area (especially the western suburbs) was running below 50 percent of normal rainfall for the calendar year. Some decent rains in the fall helped cut into the deficit, but most of the area still finished the year with 60-80% of normal precipitation.
So, where do we stand now?
The 2-4" of rain that fell across the metro area on Sunday and Monday brought most of the region to normal precipitation levels for 2008, and was enough to push the "Abnormally Dry" category -- the least-severe drought category -- south of the immediate metro area, according to today's U.S. Drought Monitor. Moderate to severe drought conditions, however, are still as close as north-central and central Virginia, and the metro area is still running anywhere from 6" to 15" below normal rainfall for the last 12 months.
While the drought in our area has lost much of its punch, it will take more than just a one- or two-day soaking to knock it out for good. Hopefully, as we head into summer, we will continue to get both significant and frequent rain events to help close the precipitation gap even more.
By Matt Ross |
April 24, 2008; 11:15 AM ET
Local Climate
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Posted by: tinkerbelle | April 24, 2008 1:02 PM
Wow, I thought that was a zoom in of a supercell thunderstorm at first, lol.
(heh...bad pun alert)It's good that the drought is beginning to dry up. Hopefully we'll get some more rains like we did this weekend. I know that if this tropical season is "active", we could see some really nice rains come through here. It seems as if any tropical system that makes landfall on the gulf coast from New Orleans and east, the remnants hit us due to the mountains. I can't help but to think of the 4 or 5 tornado warnings in 3 hours for PWC when Ivan's remnants came through here. I was a ball of nerves that day.
Posted by: weatherdudeVA (Lake Ridge) | April 24, 2008 2:56 PM
After Sunday's rains the "drought" should be history if not close thereto. That afternoon storm DID remind me of Ivan; the tornadoes with Ivan hit Chantilly rather than Chillum as I recall.
Our strongest tornadoes were the fall tornado some time ago that hit College Park and the spring tornado a few years back which hit LaPlata. The origin of Sunday's afternoon storm near Waldorf reminded me somewhat of the LaPlata tornado. It showed up on Channel 7's Doppler radar with several characteristics of a supercell, but moving from SSE to NNW. That made it more like the Ivan storms than like the LaPlata tornado which took a west to east path.
Posted by: El Bombo | April 24, 2008 4:30 PM
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I wouldn't mind drying out for a while before the next round of rainfall but I'm not sure I'll get the chance, based on Josh's forecast. The 5+" of rain (wildlife interfered with my gauge after we hit 5.0" early Monday a.m., so I couldn't get an exact total) in two days was equal to two months worth in Jefferson County, which is generally drier than D.C. I need to assess the condition of my roof, sigh!