Besides the record heat that has not only plagued New Jersey, but much of the country, there has also been a lack of rain these past several months. Amazingly, there has not been a drought emergency issued for the Garden State. Only a drought watch for Northeastern New Jersey. According to the NJ Drought web site provided by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the area in Northeast New Jersey has been severely dry in terms of ground water for the past three weeks. The 90 day stream flow has been dry for the past five weeks. Reservoirs have been moderately dry.

Meanwhile, in Central Jersey, things are a bit better, but starting to go south. Reservoirs in the region as well as in the Delaware River Basin Commission are at normal capacities. The ground has been severely dry for three weeks now, and the precipitation for the 90 day period has been moderately dry. Looking more closer to home in Northwestern Middlesex County, there has been only 2.36 inches of rain since May 7th. The most rainfall the area has seen during that period was on May 18th when 0.99 inches of rain fell. This single day output of rain represents 42 percent of the rainfall during this period. According to records kept by the National Weather Service office in Mount Holly, Trenton has received only 0.24 inches of rain, which is 1.88 inches below normal for the month.

Over in Philadelphia and Atlantic City, things have not been much better. Things were helped out yesterday and today when showers and thunderstorms rolled through the area. However, conditions are still very dry. In Philly, rainfall for the month has been about 0.25 inches, or 1.86 inches below average while in AC, rainfall has been limited to a trickle of 0.03 inches, or 2.39 inches below normal. Moving north into Newark, there has been 1.04 inches of rain so far this month, which is 1.21 inches below normal. Since June 1st, there has only been 5.34 inches of rain, which is just under five inches below normal for the period. Over in Central Park in NYC, there has only been 0.36 inches of rain for August, which is approximately 2.08 inches below normal. Since the beginning of June, Central Park has only seen 5.18 inches of rain, which is 5.74 inches below normal.

The dry weather has also had its share of impacts already around Middlesex County. Over the past three weeks, there have been several large brush fires in the marshlands around Raritan Center. It has alarmed officials in the nearby town of Edison. Another impact has been the browning dry grass, and leaves falling from trees prematurely. It could be worse though. Thanks to the winter storms that brought plenty of rain and snow to the area earlier this year, the state is stable for now. However, if these dry conditions continue to persist, we could see a drought emergency go into effect across the Garden State.