Drought

[astarck]

I posted this in the obs thread but DCA has a good chance at having the driest August on record.

[WolfStock1]

On 8/22/2025 at 3:09 PM, astarck said:

I posted this in the obs thread but DCA has a good chance at having the driest August on record.

No rain predicted through the end of the month, so guessing it'll set that record.

This is killing me.   I've got some bare spots on the lawn that I'm trying to seed by taking advantage of the cooler weather - but having to sprinkle like crazy to get it to germinate.   No rain in sight - hope the well doesn't run dry.

Third year in a row we've had drought conditions during the fall overseed season.

[WolfStock1]

Can't believe drought monitor only shows D0:

https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

Seems a few days behind though.   

[Jrlg1181]

2 hours ago, WolfStock1 said:

Can't believe drought monitor only shows D0:

https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

Seems a few days behind though.   

Yes i agree... I know it was a above normal year for most places in the Mid Atlantic up until about 5 weeks ago but the moisture has completely shut off since then ... Even most of the wettest areas probably barely hit 2 inches since ... Most areas likely between 0.25 - 1.50...

[MN Transplant]

https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap.aspx

 

[stormy]

The Severe Drought now extends from Rockingham through D.C.

When will it end??   El Nino coming on in 2026 gives hope.

[JenkinsJinkies]

22 hours ago, stormy said:

When will it end??

Usually when Niñas break the floodgates open.

[stormy]

3 hours ago, JenkinsJinkies said:

Usually when Niñas break the floodgates open.

We can only hope

[stormy]

The next 7 days remain very dry:

[WxUSAF]

We need like weekly 1” rain events for a couple months and then a juicy thunderstorm season. Drought just won’t quit us…

[SnowenOutThere]

10 minutes ago, WxUSAF said:

We need like weekly 1” rain events for a couple months and then a juicy thunderstorm season. Drought just won’t quit us…

My favorite weather hiking is arguably the Shenandoah's in a good upslope event. Frankly its otherworldly to ascend into the cloud deck and go from showers to a downpour on the mountainside. While I love my snow hikes rain hikes are even more dynamic. Hoping I get some opportunities for that this spring with temperatures around 60.  

[Maestrobjwa]

1 hour ago, WxUSAF said:

We need like weekly 1” rain events for a couple months and then a juicy thunderstorm season. Drought just won’t quit us…

I'd imagine the El Niño could help with that, right?

[WxUSAF]

1 minute ago, Maestrobjwa said:

I'd imagine the El Niño could help with that, right?

One would think

[Herb@MAWS]

Monthly Rainfall imby, Columbia;

Nov 1.63”

Dec  1.59”

Jan. 2.01”

[North Balti Zen]

17 hours ago, WxUSAF said:

We need like weekly 1” rain events for a couple months and then a juicy thunderstorm season. Drought just won’t quit us…

Dear lord, this. We really need to get moisture here on the regular. It has been a long time since we've been in a true wet pattern. 

[JenkinsJinkies]

15 hours ago, WxUSAF said:

One would think

So do you think this will be the time the floodgates open after the niña ends like it's supposed to or will it be like the last couple times and the dry pattern injects steroids when the niña fades?

[dailylurker]

22 minutes ago, JenkinsJinkies said:

So do you think this will be the time the floodgates open after the niña ends like it's supposed to or will it be like the last couple times and the dry pattern injects steroids when the niña fades?

This has been a crazy long drought. Is this the third winter? Last winter I had snowpack for almost a month due to no rain washing it away like usual. Same with the past two winters. We're lucky I guess that the one storm we did get was frozen. Same with the past two winters. I've never seen creeks dry up for years. 

[JenkinsJinkies]

1 minute ago, dailylurker said:

This has been a crazy long drought. Is this the third winter? Last winter I had snowpack for almost a month due to no rain washing it away like usual. Same with the past two winters. We're lucky I guess that the one storm we did get was frozen. Same with the past two winters. I've never seen creeks dry up for years. 

Last time we went from nina to nino the dry pattern lasted until mid summer, we were having winter style fails with thunderstorm setups.