|
The largest used equipment inventory in the Mid-Atlantic is only a click away. Visit our website by clicking here or visit us at one of our 11 locations throughout MD, DE, VA and PA.
|
 |
Despite recent snowfall, drought lingers across Virginia
1.29.2008
By Jane W. Graham
AFP Correspondent
BLACKSBURG, Va. — Drought conditions are clinging to Virginia as well as the whole Delmarva area and the southeastern United States, the latest Drought Monitor map released Jan. 24 shows.
Peter Corrigan, a spokesman for the National Weather Service is not optimistic about the prospects for improvement until the tracks of winter storms improve.
He said the storms have tracked along the Ohio Valley and north this winter, bringing moisture to the Northeast.
He indicated that current conditions do not look good for the upcoming growing season.
The new drought monitor report shows much of the state of Virginia in moderate drought. Some counties along the West Virginia border are in abnormally dry conditions while a few have moved out of a drought designation.
Portions of the state in far southwest Virginia remain in extreme drought while the southeastern corner is in severe drought.
Virginia is in better shape, Corrigan said, than North Carolina and other southeastern states where much of the area is in exceptional drought.
He said water supplies are dwindling and the large cities there face a scary situation.
Snow and ice on Jan. 16-17 brought from a half to three-quarters of an inch of moisture to some of the area served by the Blacksburg weather station, Corrigan reported.
He said the snow melts slowly and is absorbed into the ground, which is not frozen this year.
He sees this as being better than a hard rain that has the potential to run off rather than soaking into the ground.
He said December moisture was about normal, but January has been dry. In his area, the counties east of the Blue Ridge have received a third to one-half of the moisture they usually get in January.
Rainfall has been more normal in the western part of his service area which does not include the Far southwest.
A moderate La Niña is under way in the Pacific Ocean and there is no real hint that this is going to change, Corrigan said.
The Climate Prediction Center reported Jan. 10 that the La Niña event, cooler than normal water conditions in sea surface temperatures, is expected to cause below-average precipitation across the Southeast.
As the weather remain dry and the weather forecast contains little good news, the ag community is scrambling to develop ways to deal with continued drought.