The record
Everything the slot carries, as measured. Series arrays are drawn above and listed here in full.
| event_type | Drought |
|---|---|
| ncei_event_id | 5,715,149 |
| episode_id | 2,411,431 |
| begin_utc | 1999-07-01T05:00:00+00:00 |
| end_utc | 1999-08-01T04:59:00+00:00 |
| state | MARYLAND |
| cz_type | Z |
| cz_name | CECIL |
| deaths_direct | 0 |
| deaths_indirect | 0 |
| injuries_direct | 0 |
| injuries_indirect | 0 |
| wfo_source | GOVT OFFICIAL |
| episode_narrative | The drought continued throughout July across the Maryland Eastern Shore. Unseasonably dry weather persisted through the first three weeks of the month. Heavy rain the morning of the 22nd across southern sections of the Eastern Shore gave Talbot County (on a county weighted average) above normal precipitation for the month (4.6 inches). But below normal rainfall continued elsewhere across the Eastern Shore and ranged (on a county weighted average) from 1.4 inches in Cecil County to 3.4 inches in Queen Anne's County. The July monthly normal rainfall is around 4 inches. The effects of the drought continued to increase as the month wore on. Freshwater flow at the start of the month by the Susquehanna River into Chesapeake Bay was about 25 percent of normal and set an all time record low, surpassing June of 1964. About 200,000 young fish of all represented species were killed in two Chesapeake Bay tributaries in late June and early July. Low oxygen levels caused by the drought induced low streamflows were blamed for the deaths. During the first week of the month, Cecilton and Rising Sun in Cecil County imposed mandatory watering restrictions. Several other municipalities called for voluntary conservation. This was also echoed on July 7th by the Maryland Department of the Environment which called on a voluntary reduction of water consumption of 10 to 15 percent. With no widespread rain in sight, on July 29th Maryland Governor Parris Glendening declared the first ever statewide drought emergency. The governor asked residents to voluntarily conserve water, asked for federal money to help farmers and freed $3 million dollars from the state to help farmers. The same day North East in Cecil County banned all outdoor use of water. The drought coincided with the growing season. The April 1st through July 31st four month period was the driest on record over the past 105 years in the state of Maryland. Farmers in Maryland were feeling a double pinch. Irrigation, if possible, was driving up the costs of farming. Meanwhile, ideal growing conditions elsewhere in the country kept crop prices low. Hay and pasture crops were hardest hit by the drought. By the end of the month about 90 percent of the topsoil and subsoil moisture level was rated as either short or very short. About seventy percent of all pastures and thirty-six percent of the corn crop was rated as either poor or very poor. Many farmers either started to cull their herds or feed livestock hay normally reserved for the winter. The worsening drought could prompt the federal Farm Service Agency to seek a disaster declaration for Maryland and Delaware farmers as early as August. This would be the third straight year that a dry growing season has cut crop production deeply enough to trigger federal assistance in the region. |
| year | 1,999 |
Provenance
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Storage: spine