Tag Archives: Northeastern

Increasing fire risk due to drought in Northeastern areas.

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overview

  • Much of the Northeast is in drought after an unusually dry and warm start to autumn.
  • Nationally, October was one of the driest months on record.
  • Fires are burning in New Jersey and Connecticut, and the fire danger remains high.

The dryness and unseasonably warm weather in the Northeast has pushed much of the region into drought, sparking wildfires in New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

October ended as one of the driest months on record in the United States, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Precipitation was particularly low in the northeast.

Cities such as Philadelphia. Newark, New Jersey. Wilmington, Delaware. And Norfolk, Virginia, recorded no rain at all in October. Southeast Regional Climate Center collects precipitation data from more than 1,400 weather stations across the country. Several cities, including Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., set new records for consecutive days without any measurable precipitation in October.

Firefighters and wildfire in Evesham, New Jersey, Wednesday, November 6, 2024
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (via AP)

“This is an area that is not typically associated with drought,” said Benjamin Cook, a part-time researcher at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, New York. “It's not very common for really severe drought conditions to last this long.”

The drought continues into the first week of November, leaving much of the region in a “severe” drought. US Drought Monitor tracks the national situation and publishes weekly color-coded maps showing the extent and intensity of the drought.

The Drought Monitor's latest maps released Thursday showed drought conditions extending from Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York to Massachusetts and Maine. Dry conditions have intensified in some states, with parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Maryland currently in “extreme” drought.

“Extreme drought is basically a once-in-25-year type of drought,” says Brian, a climatologist at the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and one of the mapmakers for the U.S. Drought Monitor.・Mr. Fuchs says. .

Drought watches and warnings have been issued in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, asking people to voluntarily reduce their water use.

Part of the region's dry and warmer-than-usual weather is due to a strong high-pressure system that has remained over much of the country for several weeks. In the Northeast, Great Lakes, and South, temperatures were 15 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit above normal for late October and early November.

More than half of the continental United States is experiencing some degree of drought. That includes 56% of the Northeast, according to the Drought Monitor.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

Unseasonably Warm Halloween Weather Sweeps Midwest and Northeastern Regions

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overview

  • Halloween is expected to be much warmer than usual in many parts of the country this year.
  • More than 30 cities in the Northeast could set new temperature records on Thursday.
  • Unseasonably warm weather arrives in the midst of a warmer-than-usual fall in various parts of the United States

For trick-or-treaters in many parts of the country, that familiar chill may not be in the air this Halloween.

More than 30 cities in the Northeast, including Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C., could experience record high temperatures on Thursday. Many cities in the Midwest are also expected to see temperatures 10 to 30 degrees warmer than usual for this time of year.

High temperatures in Boston are expected to reach 80 degrees Fahrenheit, making it one of the warmest Halloweens in 80 years, said National Weather Service forecaster Caitlin Mensch. The city’s current high temperature of 81 degrees was set on October 31, 1946.

“We’re well above normal for this time of year,” Mensch said.

Given the unseasonably warm weather, she encouraged trick-or-treaters to stay hydrated and apply sunscreen if it’s still light.

The high temperature in New York City on Thursday is expected to be 78 degrees and in Washington, D.C., a high of 81 degrees.

Temperatures in the Midwest will be similarly mild in late October. Cleveland’s high temperature could reach 78 degrees, and St. Louis’ expected high of 68 degrees could make this year among the 30 hottest Halloweens in the region in the last 100 years, the National Weather Service says. said Jared Maples, a meteorologist with the St. Louis bureau. Louis.

Temperatures could reach up to 68 degrees in Chicago. If that happens, this year’s Halloween will be one of the 10 warmest days ever recorded, said Zachary Yack, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Chicago office. The normal weather for Halloween in the area is 56 degrees.

“We’ve had a pretty warm pattern over the last few weeks across the Great Lakes and much of the Midwest,” Yack said. “We’re tracking this high-pressure system, and high-pressure systems tend to have clearer skies and warmer temperatures most of the time.”

Forecasters expect temperatures to drop by the end of the week.

Autumn is generally warmer than usual in some parts of the country. In early October, much of the western United States was hit by an unusual heatwave, with temperatures soaring into triple digits in cities such as Phoenix, Las Vegas, Napa, and San Jose, California. Dozens of new daily heat records were set across California, Arizona, and Nevada.

Last year was the hottest on record on Earth, and scientists say global temperature records are on track to be broken again in 2024.

randy richardson

Randy Richardson is a medical intern at NBC News Digital based in New York.

Dennis Chow

Dennis Chou is a science and space reporter for NBC News.

Steve Strauss contributed.

Source: www.nbcnews.com