Waterways and wells run dry in parts of New England and trees in New York are already shedding their leaves, as drought is absorbed by the American northeast from the late summer, which increases the risk of fires.
According to the US monitoring service, more than 80% of the region is now abnormally dry or dry compared to only 11% this September last year. Some parts in the northeast took place for weeks without significant rains – similar to less than a year ago that led to the historical outbreak of fire brushes that burned New York and nearby.
In the state of New York, the officials of environmental officials urged consumers to voluntarily reduce the use of water because the current and groundwater levels will dry up. The increased risk of fire has taken the new Hampshire, Maine and Vermont, which has been experiencing its first national drought since the beginning of 2000 records.
“This spring was quite wet in some of these areas until early summer, which really made it possible to flourish vegetation,” says Samantha Borisoff, climatology in the northeast regional climate center at the Cornell University. But how these plants dry up – and the stress of drought causes trees to fall their leaves by weeks soon – a supply of potential fuel for fire continues to grow.
Drought is associated with thin summer rains that run normally for weeks. In the summer months, storms are often hit in the northeast in the northeast, said Jennifer Francis, head scientist with the Woodwell Climate Research Center in Massachusetts. Storms can cause serious downpours and localized floods in some areas, while other neighborhoods remain mostly dry. This variability – built with unusually warm temperatures and lack of humidity from tropical storms passing through the sea through the Atlantic Ocean – left some communities hungry for rain.
In densely populated areas, the risk of fire is even greater. This includes New York City, which has only seen sporadic storms in the last summer.
According to the National Meteorological Service Manhattan Central Park received less than half of the average precipitation. Looking further, the summer rains in the park came under the average seasonal sum in five inches.
This causes increased concerns leading to the autumn fire season, said Kevin Woods, head of fire operations for the fire brigade in New York. In 2024, New York experienced one of its driest autumn records with a record number of brushes fires. The crews responded to 229 fires in two weeks from the end of October to November, said Woods, exhausting firefighters and leaving the resources of the department stretched.
“These are the same units that respond to structural fires, gas leaks, extraordinary events – whatever it can be,” Woods said. Intensive fire brushes broke deep in urban parks, including Prospect Park in Brooklyn and Inwood Hill Park in Upper Manhattan. “Our biggest challenge was water supply, because in the middle of the park is not too many hydrants.”
To prepare for this autumn, Woods said that the department had invested in a kilometer of light forestry hoses, which is easier for firefighters to get manually in remote areas. They also intensified training on the “water relay” or the use of other pumps to push water over longer distances from its source.
By the end of the year, forecasting forecasts were probably in New York, while maintaining their adhesion to the large lines of New England. In particular, late autumn can bring rain, but downpours may not be enough to interrupt drought. This usually requires repeated wheels “soaking, all -day rain” falling on a slight clip, Francis said, less likely that the climate still warms up.
“We will see more permanent weather patterns, where it will be dry for a longer period of time or wet for a longer period of time,” Francis said. “Thermal waves are underneath the umbrella and drought – which is a recipe for fire.”
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(Tagstotranslate) drought
