Despite some much needed rain over the last few days, central and northern New York are still dealing with drought conditions this fall.
Jessica Spaccio, a climatologist at the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University, said drought conditions started to kick in during the latter part of the summer.
"We were pretty wet in the spring, and then the precipitation just kind of stopped and things really got dry and have intensified throughout the fall," she said.
The U.S. Drought Monitor shows central New York at abnormally dry or moderate drought conditions. Parts of Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties are in severe drought.
Spaccio said most of the agricultural season is winding down, but dry conditions could still affect some plants going forward, like Christmas trees.
"It really will affect kind of like saplings, so small trees, and so that can affect seasons going forward, so maybe this year's trees hopefully are big enough, so they'll be OK. But maybe the trees that would be ready to harvest in a few years may have some drought stress on those."
And Spaccio said one precipitation event likely won’t get this area out of the drought. Some areas are several inches behind on rainfall and need to catch back up.
"We do need to actually improve that precipitation deficit to actually get stream flows and things back up to normal," she said.
If the ground freezes before that, some areas may have to wait until it thaws in the spring for ground water to be replenished.
In the meantime, Spaccio said people can help by being careful about how much water they’re using.
Also, avoid setting outdoor fires in dry conditions.
To report drought conditions in your area, click here.
