YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – We are on a streak of days without precipitation here in Youngstown, Ohio. The ground is hard, and dry weather has started to brown some yards throughout the region.
Today is the 12th day without rain here in Youngstown, Ohio. The weather forecast does not have a lot of rain in it. A stretch of days this long without precipitation does not happen very often around here.
The rain has rolled around our region as high pressure stays strong.
The last time we had more than 12 days without precipitation was in May of 2021. We ended a 13-day streak on May 22, 2021.
The longest streak of dry days in a row on record in Youngstown, Ohio is 25.
Twenty-five days in a row without precipitation happened twice since the late 1800s. The streak took place in 1963 and 1922.
Is Youngstown, Ohio below normal in rainfall?
Yes, the amount of rainfall was well below normal for May. In fact, we ended the month as the sixth driest on record. We ended the month 2.42 inches below normal.
We are starting meteorological summer very dry. See what a developing El Nino means for our summer.
Are we in a drought?
The answer is no as of today. However, a big part of Ohio and Pennsylvania are in the abnormally dry category.
What are the stages of a drought?
The drought monitor updates every Thursday and the scales range from none to exceptional drought.
The categories of drought are listed below:
- None
- D0 (Abnormally Dry) – We are currently in this category.
- D1 (Moderate Drought)
- D2 (Severe Drought)
- D3 (Severe Drought)
- D4 (Exceptional Drought)
The stages of drought are dependent on not only the amount of water that has fallen but also soil moisture, stream flow, water levels and many other water-related categories.
Looking ahead, you can use other tools such as the objective short-term drought indicator to see where we may be going. This is used to see how the area may respond within a time scale ranging from a few days to a few months. Items looked at our wildfire danger, non-irrigated agriculture, topsoil moisture, pasture conditions and unregulated streamflows. These products can be found at the US Drought Monitor.
There is also the objective long-term indicator blend percentile map. It will approximate drought-related impacts on a longer time scale ranging from a few months to a few years. It shows a better understanding and impacts of precipitation in relation to reservoirs, irrigated agriculture, groundwater levels and well water depth.
