The record
Everything the slot carries, as measured. Series arrays are drawn above and listed here in full.
| event_type | Drought |
|---|---|
| ncei_event_id | 5,675,299 |
| episode_id | 2,151,368 |
| begin_utc | 1998-12-03T14:00:00+00:00 |
| end_utc | 1999-01-01T04:59:00+00:00 |
| state | PENNSYLVANIA |
| cz_type | Z |
| cz_name | MONROE |
| deaths_direct | 0 |
| deaths_indirect | 0 |
| injuries_direct | 0 |
| injuries_indirect | 0 |
| damage_property | 0 |
| wfo_source | GOVT OFFICIAL |
| episode_narrative | The run of unseasonably dry weather that began in July started to take its toll on water supplies throughout the region. At the start of the month 84 percent of Pennsylvania's soils were rated as very short or short of moisture and 69 percent of all pasture lands were rated as being in poor or very poor condition. On December 2nd the dry weather forced the Pennsylvania State Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to ban all open fires in state forests because of the extremely dry conditions. The next day the Susquehanna River Basin Commission issued a drought advisory for the river's entire 27,510 square mile drainage area in New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The commission urged the public and water suppliers to voluntarily conserve water, particularly indoor uses. In conjunction, the Pennsylvania State Department of Environmental Protection issued a drought watch for all of Eastern Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania State Department of Conservation and Natural Resources joined the state forests and game lands in imposing a ban on open fires and smoking. About 15 brush fires burned more than 25 acres in just the past few days across the state.As December continued to be unseasonably dry, even drier than the previous months, reservoir levels continued to fall. On December 14th, the Delaware River Basin Commission declared a drought warning for the 7.3 million people within its 13,539 square mile basin in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and New York. The Pennsylvania State Department of Environmental Protection upgraded Eastern Pennsylvania from a drought watch to a drought warning and called for a voluntary 10 to 15 percent reduction of non-essential water use. The Delaware River Basin Commission also asked people to voluntarily cut back on water usage by 15 percent. The Commission also cut back by 15 percent the amount of water New York City and New Jersey could remove from the upstream reservoirs and the river itself. On December 23rd, the Delaware River Basin Commission declared Stage Two of its drought warning. Water diversions by New York City and New Jersey were cut back an additional 15 percent in an effort to stretch existing supplies. The drought's affects were not limited to upstream locations. In Bucks County, Upper Makefield Township issued a voluntary limited state of emergency for drought as wells in the village of Brownsburg were running dry. The Springton Reservoir, which supplies water to Delaware County was at 43 percent of capacity on December 23rd. Coatesville's (Chester County) reservoir was six feet below normal. The Saltwater line within the Delaware River was at River Mile 85, or about 3 miles upstream from Chester City (Delaware County). This was 11 miles farther upstream than normal for the middle of December and increase the corrosion control costs of industries. For the first time in its 46 year history, low water along the Delaware River prevented the reenactment of George Washington and his troops crossing the Delaware River. Instead they had to cross the Washington Crossing Bridge by foot on Christmas morning. As dry as July through November were, December was even drier. On a county weighted average, every county in Eastern Pennsylvania had less than one inch of precipitation (.6 to .9). This was nearly 3 inches below normal and only 20 percent of the normal monthly December precipitation. The 0.62 inches of precipitation that fell in December at the Lehigh Valley International Airport was the second driest December on record. The 0.82 inches of monthly precipitation at the Philadelphia International Airport was the third driest December on record. |
| year | 1,998 |
Provenance
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Storage: spine