BUFFALO, N.Y. — While there was no change in locally, much for the state saw improvement in the latest Drought Monitor released Thursday.
As of August 14, 35.3% of the state has defined "abnormally dry" conditions and 15.8% of the state has a defined moderate drought. This is a great improvement from conditions earlier this month, where over 75% of the state had some kind of classification.
For Western New York, there was no change in the latest update. Parts of the Southern Tier and Niagara Frontier could use some rain though, as an abnormally dry definition remains for mid-August.
As of August 11, WNY has received 1.19 inches of rain this month. This official measurement is taken from the records and observations kept at the Buffalo Airport. This is slightly lower than what climatology shows as average for mid-August, which is 1.31 inches. Plus, most of that rain fell within the first few days of the month.
Moving forward, Western New York will need to see around a quarter to half an inch of rain a week to keep the region in a good position. For portions still with the "dry" definition, around an inch a week in the short term. But as of now, it looks like drought conditions will not get worse for Western New York.
Earlier this month, tropical storm Isaias brought several inches of rain downstate where conditions were getting worse after a hot and dry July for that part of the state.
For the Adirondacks and specifically St. Lawrence County, the stagnant, wet weather pattern at the beginning of the month helped the region considerably. The classification for the region went down, from a severe to now minor drought.
