April showers have washed away the state’s drought concerns – for now

Solely two weeks in the past, most of New Jersey was lit up in vivid yellow on the U.S. Drought Monitor map, signaling that the bottom was “abnormally dry,” and a big swath of South Jersey was deemed to have reasonable drought situations due to low rainfall totals, low stream flows and low groundwater ranges.

Then got here the rain and thunderstorms. One storm system after one other, adopted by a robust however fast-moving coastal storm Monday evening.

And now, the drought map is trying a lot better, with nearly all the Backyard State shaded in white — signifying floor moisture and stream flows have returned to regular. Solely a small swath of far southern New Jersey stays within the “abnormally dry” zone.

So there are not any worries of widespread drought situations on the horizon — no less than for now.

Can the image change once more as we head right into a stretch of hotter spring climate and a doubtlessly lengthy scorching summer season?

New Jersey State Climatologist David Robinson says the Backyard State is in good condition now, however you’ll be able to by no means rule out the potential of a reversal in terms of drought situations — particularly figuring out the spring and summer season are when water utilization spikes as individuals fill their swimming swimming pools, wash their automobiles, and water their lawns and gardens.

Robinson, whose workplace at Rutgers College oversees the state’s climate information and gives enter to the Nationwide Drought Mitigation Middle, the company that points weekly drought maps throughout the nation, mentioned he’s glad most of New Jersey’s groundwater ranges “are near regular, holding regular or rising.”

“This can present a ‘cushion’ of kinds come the nice and cozy seasons when vegetation use water, people irrigate fields and lawns, fill swimming pools, and so on., and when evaporation charges enhance,” he mentioned.

“Such a scenario doesn’t imply we are able to’t reasonably quickly descend into abnormally dry situations or worse ought to heat season rains fail, particularly accompanied by above-average temperatures,” Robinson added. “We should always by no means deal with water as a totally renewable useful resource and all the time make efforts to preserve.”

April rain stats

After a March with lower-than-normal quantities of rain and snow, New Jersey has had an abundance of rain throughout current weeks. Actually, some elements of northern New Jersey have been saturated with as a lot as 8 inches of rain this month, Robinson famous.

South Jersey hasn’t gotten as a lot because the northern area, and “whereas groundwater has risen some, it nonetheless is low” within the state’s far southern area, he mentioned.

Since April 1, the Trenton space has gotten 5.50 inches of rain, in response to the most recent information from the Nationwide Climate Service. That’s greater than 3 inches increased than regular for the primary 20 days of the month.

The Newark space has gotten a strong 4.35 inches of rain to this point this month, which is sort of 2 inches increased than regular. And the Atlantic Metropolis Space has picked up practically 4 inches of rain this month, 1.73 inches above regular.

Through the current coastal storm that impacted New Jersey late Monday into early Tuesday, most areas of New Jersey picked up greater than 1 inch of rain, with some areas — primarily alongside the Jersey Shore — getting greater than 2 inches.

Previous to that, many locations in New Jersey acquired a heavy soaking of 1 to 2 inches throughout a sequence of rain showers and thunderstorms in early April, with greater than a dozen cities measuring greater than 3 inches.

The state now finds it self in a uncommon stretch of dry April climate, with no rain falling in most counties in the course of the previous two days and no rain within the forecast between Friday morning and Monday evening. However scattered rain showers are anticipated to return Monday evening, Tuesday and presumably Wednesday as nicely.

Present climate radar

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Len Melisurgo could also be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com.