Storm to bring much-needed rain to New England but miss drought-stricken Southeast
Storm from the Midwest will strengthen along the East Coast, bringing beneficial rain to drought-stricken New England, while dry conditions persist in the Southeast.
Thunderstorms barreled through the Northeast on May 13, causing scattered damage.
A storm will continue to bring rain to New England through Friday. The rain produced by it will help to ease long-term drought across New England, but it has largely missed areas from the Carolinas to New Jersey where drought is a bigger concern.
The entirety of every state from New Jersey and Delaware to Georgia and Florida is experiencing moderate drought or worse, based on the latest United States Drought Monitor.
If conditions do not turn around heading into the heart of the growing season and the heat of the summer, significant negative impacts to production may occur, and water supplies may dwindle to serious levels.
While some rain, on the order of a few tenths of an inch, fell from New Jersey to northwestern North Carolina from the departing storm on Thursday, much more is needed.
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The bulk of the rain managed to dodge New York City. Only spotty, brief showers are forecast on Friday, with most remaining northeast of the city itself. Rainfall from the storm in New Jersey ranged from 0.01 of an inch at Teterboro to 0.17 of an inch at Millville, which barely dampened the ground in some areas or caused small puddles in others.
Portions of Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and northeastern New York are expected to pick up 1–2 inches of rain from through Friday as the storm strengthens and grabs moisture.
The rain is greatly needed, as multiple locations have received less than 60% of their historical average precipitation since the start of the year. Boston, for example, has recorded only about 9 inches of rain as of May 14, which is just 58% of its historical average of 15.84 inches.
Year-to-date rainfall in Bar Harbor, Maine, is around 45% of average, while Portsmouth, New Hampshire, is only at 47%. Much of New Hampshire and Maine are experiencing moderate to severe long-term drought. Rain in recent weeks has helped, and the storm through Friday should bring additional relief.
Some downpours may be intense enough to overwhelm storm drains briefly and cause street and highway flooding in parts of New England.
This weekend will mark a transition to much warmer weather that may feel more like late July and August than mid-May for a couple of days into early next week.
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