Newly released data from the U.S. Drought Monitor this morning has continued much of Orange County in severe drought conditions. This comes as reservoir levels continue dropping and wildfires burn ramped on the Shawangunk ridge.
Much of the region is now under a severe drought, while other portions remain under a moderate drought. Areas along the eastern seaboard in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island are now under an extreme drought.
The area’s seven major reservoirs have dropped to an average capacity of 72.3%, according to data released yesterday by the NYC Department of Environmental Protection. The normal capacity for this time of year is 84.2%.
The Schoharie Reservoir has plunged to a whopping 27.9% capacity. The Cannonsville Reservoir dropped to to 48.9%. The nearby Neversink Reservoir is down to 72% capacity.
The largest of the reservoirs, the Pepacton, holds 140.2 billion gallons of water. It is currently at 71.3% capacity. The next largest, the Ashokan Reservoir, holds 122.9 billion gallons of water and has fallen to 72.2% capacity.
Two of the nearby reservoirs still remain full. The Rondout Reservoir is 96% full while the Croton System boasts 94.3% capacity. The nearby Neversink Reservoir is at 72% capacity.
Rainfall has been lacking for several months as the drought continues since July 16, 2022.
The entire month of August 2022 only saw 1.764″ of rain at the Vail’s Gate Weather Tower, operated by The Newburgh News, LLC. This compares to 5.26″ of rain in August 2021, 2.74″ in August 2020, and 2.598″ in August 2019.
The lack of August rainfall came during several heat waves. The temperature reached 100.2 degrees on August 4, 2022 at 3:55 pm. On August 8, 2022, the heat index from the actual temperature and high humidity topped out at 109.8 degrees at 3:06 pm.
This June and July were also much drier than normal. July only saw 1.685″ of rain while June produced 2.457″ of rain, most of which fell before the drought began.
Severely dry conditions have contributed to three major forest fires on the Shawangunk Ridge in the Minnewaska State Park. A large-scale effort is underway to battle the fires which are raging out of control.
One of the three fires, located at Napanoch Point, has now grown to an estimated 270 acres and it continues to spread. Approximately two miles east of this, another fire is burning at Stony Kill which is one acre large. A third fire on the ridge closer to Wurtsboro is impacting 70 acres.
Two Black Hawk helicopters from the Army National Guard are dropping 82 buckets of water daily. Two additional Huey helicopters from the New York State Police are dropping 87 buckets of water daily.
A group of 20 firefighters from Quebec, Canada are arriving today to help battle the wildfires. They are arriving shortly after the National Guard was deployed to help in the containment efforts.
The newly arriving help are joining more than 200 firefighters who are working on all three fire lines on the mountain range. Numerous state agencies are also operating at the scene.
Not much rain is in sight to aid in the drought or firefighting efforts. According to the forecast at the Vail’s Gate Weather Tower, only a slight chance of rain showers are in the forecast from Sunday night through Tuesday. Dry conditions are expected to return thereafter.
