More than a quarter of New York state is in a moderate drought, according to today’s weekly report by the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Another 50% of the state is classified as abnormally dry, thanks to warm temperatures and little precipitation.
Much of that abnormally dry area is expected to sink into a drought, and the moderate drought already in place in Western New York and the North Country is expected to persist, the National Weather Service said. The drought monitor report includes data up to Tuesday, so any rain that fell after that -- not that there’s been much -- isn’t included.
The dry conditions in Upstate, and across much of the Northeast, are the result of lower than normal precipitation and higher than normal temperatures.