DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 1107 AM EST TUE JAN 27 2009 ...THE DROUGHT WATCH HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED... SYNOPSIS... THE DROUGHT WATCH THAT HAD BEEN IN EFFECT FOR MOST OF WESTERN AND NORTHERN PENNSYLVANIA HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED. MUCH OF THE AREA RECEIVED ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION DURING THE FIRST HALF OF WINTER...WITH SURFACE AND GROUND WATER LEVELS ALL RETURNING TO NORMAL OR EVEN ABOVE-NORMAL LEVELS. DROUGHT STATUS ACROSS THE COMMONWEALTH: ALL COUNTIES WERE RETURNED TO NORMAL STATUS ON JANUARY 26TH. *** NORMAL STATUS COUNTIES: 67 *** ADAMS...ALLEGHENY...ARMSTRONG...BEAVER...BEDFORD...BERKS...BLAIR... BRADFORD...BUCKS...BUTLER...CAMBRIA...CAMERON...CARBON...CENTRE... CHESTER...CLARION...CLEARFIELD...CLINTON...COLUMBIA...CRAWFORD... CUMBERLAND...DAUPHIN...DELAWARE...ELK...ERIE...FAYETTE...FOREST... FRANKLIN...FULTON...GREENE...HUNTINGDON...INDIANA...JEFFERSON... JUNIATA...LACKAWANNA...LANCASTER...LAWRENCE...LEBANON... LEHIGH...LUZERNE...LYCOMING...MCKEAN...MERCER...MIFFLIN...MONROE... MONTGOMERY...MONTOUR...NORTHAMPTON...NORTHUMBERLAND...PERRY... PHILADELPHIA...PIKE...POTTER...SCHUYLKILL...SNYDER...SOMERSET... SULLIVAN...SUSQUEHANNA...TIOGA...UNION...VENANGO...WARREN... WASHINGTON...WAYNE...WESTMORELAND...WYOMING...AND YORK. *** DROUGHT WATCH COUNTIES: 0 *** NONE. *** DROUGHT WARNING COUNTIES: 0 *** NONE. *** DROUGHT EMERGENCY COUNTIES: 0 *** NONE. SUMMARY OF IMPACTS... NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS EXPECTED. CLIMATE SUMMARY... OVER THE LAST 60 DAYS...THE AREA THAT WAS PREVIOUSLY IN THE DROUGHT WATCH HAS SEEN BETWEEN 4 AND 8 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION...WHICH RANGES FROM NEAR NORMAL TO MORE THAN 3 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL. PRECIPITATION OUTLOOK... THE SHORT TERM PRECIPITATION OUTLOOK THROUGH EARLY FEBRUARY IS FOR NORMAL TO SOMEWHAT ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION. IN THE LONGER RANGE...THE 30 AND 90 DAY OUTLOOKS FROM THE NATIONAL CENTERS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PREDICTION /NCEP/ SHOW NO CLEAR SIGNAL REGARDING PRECIPITATION TRENDS THROUGH APRIL FOR MOST OF THE STATE...EXCEPT OVER WESTERN SECTIONS WHICH ARE EXPECTED TO RECEIVE ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION. HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK... DUE TO THE RECENT STORMY WEATHER ACROSS THE STATE...STREAM FLOWS ARE ALL NORMAL TO ABOVE NORMAL. GROUND WATER LEVELS IN ALMOST ALL LOCATIONS HAVE RETURNED TO NEAR NORMAL AND MANY ARE ABOVE NORMAL. ALTHOUGH LONG RANGE PATTERNS ARE NOT STRONGLY POINTING TO AN ABNORMALLY WET PATTERN...ANY WINTER RAIN OR SNOW MELT WILL CONTINUE TO IMPROVE CONDITIONS. OF COURSE...MORE SNOW WILL SET THE STAGE FOR FUTURE GROUND WATER RECHARGE WHEN MELTING OCCURS. NEXT ISSUANCE DATE... THIS PRODUCT WILL BE UPDATED IN MID FEBRUARY...OR SOONER IF NECESSARY...IN RESPONSE TO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN CONDITIONS OR DROUGHT STATUS. RELATED WEB SITES... ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON CURRENT DROUGHT CONDITIONS MAY BE FOUND AT THE FOLLOWING WEB ADDRESSES...
U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR...
http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html
NOAA DROUGHT PAGE...
http://www.drought.noaa.gov/
CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER...
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/
NORTHEAST REGIONAL CLIMATE CENTER...
http://www.nrcc.cornell.edu/
PENNSYLVANIA STATE CLIMATOLOGIST...
http://pasc.met.psu.edu/PA_Climatologist/
ADDITIONAL RIVER INFORMATION...
NWS..... http://www.weather.gov/water/
USGS.... http://water.usgs.gov/
USACE... http://www.mvr.usace.army.mil/ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS... THE DROUGHT MONITOR IS A MULTI-AGENCY EFFORT INVOLVING NOAA'S NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AND NATIONAL CLIMATIC DATA CENTER...THE USDA...STATE AND REGIONAL CENTER CLIMATOLOGISTS AND THE NATIONAL DROUGHT MITIGATION CENTER. INFORMATION FOR THIS STATEMENT HAS BEEN GATHERED FROM NWS AND FAA OBSERVATION SITES...STATE COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICES...THE USDA...USACE AND USGS. QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS... IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ABOUT THIS DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT...PLEASE CONTACT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE 328 INNOVATION BLVD. SUITE 330 STATE COLLEGE PA 16803 PHONE...814-231-2408 CTP.webmaster@noaa.gov JUNG/DANGELO