Following months of below average rainfall, a drought advisory is now in effect for the Cape and Islands, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency announced Tuesday. Dry ponds and low streams are evident all around the Island, even though October has seen good amounts of rain.
If this year isn’t the driest on record for the Vineyard, it is certainly one of the driest, according to meteorologists. So far the Vineyard has received just over eight inches of precipitation through Tuesday, about half its yearly average over the same time period.
The unusual conditions have meant an elevated risk of brush and other fires, and the Vineyard has been part of a fire weather advisory for the region for much of the past few weeks.
Against a backdrop of prolonged summer drought, the threat of wildfire in the Manuel F.
The lack of rainfall this summer has been great for beach vacations, but extremely dry conditions have left trees, gardens and lawns with a powerfu
Rainstorms that crossed the Island last month were exactly what the
Vineyard needed. After a September that was the wettest month of the
year so far, lawns are once again lush and plants are looking healthy.
According to rainfall data collected at the National Weather Service cooperative station in Edgartown, the total rainfall for the past month was 6.15 inches. The Vineyard hadn't seen that much rainfall since the 6.11 inches that fell in August of last year.
A month ago, Island farmers were complaining that it was dry. Now,
halfway through August, it is even drier - so much so that
Vineyarders are looking for new superlatives to describe the arid
conditions.
The Cape and Islands led the state in rainfall earlier in the year. But on Wednesday, the state announced that because of lack of rainfall the region had moved from a drought advisory to a drought watch.