FGUS71 KCTP 152011 ESFCTP PAZ004>006-010>012-017>019-024>028-033>037-041-042-045-046- 049>053-056>059-063>066-160815- HYDROLOGIC OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 311 PM EST FRI FEB 15 2008 ...DROUGHT STATEMENT... ...DROUGHT WATCH STATUS LIFTED FROM REMAINING PENNSYLVANIA COUNTIES... ON FEBRUARY 15TH...THE 20 COUNTIES WHICH REMAINED IN DROUGHT WATCH STATUS WERE REMOVED FROM THE LIST...BRINING THE ENTIRE COMMONWEALTH BACK TO NORMAL STATUS. THIS WILL BE THE FINAL STATEMENT COVERING THE 2007-2008 DROUGHT. ------------------------------------------------------------------ CURRENT DROUGHT STATUS FOR PENNSYLVANIA COUNTIES ARE AS FOLLOWS: *** DROUGHT EMERGENCY COUNTIES: 0 *** NONE *** DROUGHT WARNING COUNTIES: 0 *** NONE *** DROUGHT WATCH COUNTIES: 0 *** NONE *** 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... WAYNE... WESTMORELAND... WASHINGTON... WYOMING AND YORK. ------------------------------------------------------------------ ...DROUGHT TERMS AND DEFINITIONS... A DROUGHT WATCH IS THE FIRST OF THREE DROUGHT STAGES UNDER PENNSYLVANIA'S DROUGHT OPERATING PLAN. IT IS USED TO ALERT GOVERNMENT AGENCIES...PUBLIC WATER SUPPLIERS...WATER USERS AND THE PUBLIC REGARDING THE ONSET OF CONDITIONS INDICATING THE POTENTIAL FOR FUTURE DROUGHT RELATED PROBLEMS. A DROUGHT WATCH CALLS FOR A VOLUNTARY 5 PERCENT REDUCTION OF NON-ESSENTIAL WATER USE. A DROUGHT WARNING IS THE SECOND OF THREE DROUGHT STAGES UNDER PENNSYLVANIA'S DROUGHT OPERATING PLAN. IT IS USED TO PREPARE FOR A COORDINATED RESPONSE TO IMMINENT DROUGHT CONDITIONS AND POTENTIAL WATER SUPPLY SHORTAGES...RELIEVE STRESSED RESOURCES...AND IF POSSIBLE FORESTALL THE NEED TO IMPOSE MANDATORY WATER USE RESTRICTIONS. A DROUGHT WARNING CALLS FOR A VOLUNTARY 10 TO 15 PERCENT REDUCTION IN WATER CONSUMPTION. A DROUGHT EMERGENCY IS THE THIRD AND MOST SEVERE STAGE OF THE THREE DROUGHT DECLARATIONS AND IMPOSES MANDATORY WATER RESTRICTIONS ON NON-ESSENTIAL WATER USE. A DROUGHT EMERGENCY CAN ONLY BE DECLARED BY THE GOVERNOR. DROUGHT DECLARATIONS ARE BASED ON SEVERAL FACTORS INCLUDING: 1. STREAMFLOW LEVELS 2. PRECIPITATION 3. GROUNDWATER 4. SOIL MOISTURE (PALMER DROUGHT INDEX) 5. RESERVOIR STORAGE LEVELS ...HISTORY OF THE DROUGHT... AFTER A WET SUMMER AND FALL SEASON OF 2006...THE WINTER OF 2006-2007 WAS DRY WITH BELOW NORMAL SNOWFALL OVER MUCH OF THE COMMONWEALTH. THEN DURING THE SPRING AND EARLY SUMMER OF 2007...RELATIVELY DRY CONDITIONS PREVAILED ACROSS MUCH OF PENNSYLVANIA. BY MID SUMMER...STREAM FLOWS WERE LOW AND GROUND WATER LEVELS WERE LOW AND FALLING. DROUGHT CONDITIONS PEAKED IN LATE SUMMER. WHILE CONDITIONS WERE GENERALLY DRY DURING THE LATE SUMMER AND FALL OF 2007...THERE WERE SEVERAL PERIODS OF WET WEATHER... HELPING GROUND WATER AND SURFACE WATER LEVELS TO REBOUND SOMEWHAT. DURING THE LATE FALL AND INTO THE WINTER...CONDITIONS REMAINED MOIST...AND HAVE NOW ALLOWED ALL DROUGHT WATCHES TO BE CANCELLED. PENNSYLVANIA'S DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION /DEP/ ISSUED A DROUGHT WATCH IN RESPONSE TO THE LOW STREAM FLOWS...BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION...AND LOWERING GROUND WATER LEVELS FOR MOST OF PENNSYLVANIA ON AUGUST 6TH 2007. ON SEPTEMBER 4TH...26 COUNTIES WERE LIFTED FROM DROUGHT WATCH STATUS BY THE DEP. ON OCTOBER 5TH HOWEVER...MANY COUNTIES WERE ADDED BACK TO THE DROUGHT WATCH LIST...AND CLINTON COUNTY WAS PLACED INTO DROUGHT WARNING. AS OF MID WINTER...WET CONDITIONS ONCE AGAIN ALLOWED MANY COUNTIES TO BE REMOVED FROM WATCH AND WARNING STATUS ON JANUARY 11TH 2008. ON FEBRUARY 15TH...THE REMAINING COUNTIES WERE LIFTED FROM DROUGHT WATCH STATUS. ...CURRENT CONDITIONS IN CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA... ...STREAMFLOW LEVELS... RECENT RAIN AND SNOW HAVE ALLOWED MANY STREAMS TO REBOUND TO NORMAL OR ABOVE NORMAL LEVELS THROUGHOUT THE STATE. CURRENT STREAM FLOWS CAN BE FOUND AT THE USGS BY VISITING HTTP://WATER.USGS.GOV/WATERWATCH ...PRECIPITATION... FOR THE LAST 30 DAYS...PRECIPITATION TOTALS GENERALLY RANGED FROM 4 TO 5 INCHES OVER ALL OF CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA. THIS REPRESENTS WELL ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION FOR ALL OF THE REGION. PRECIPITATION DEPARTURES FOR THE LAST 30 DAYS CAN BE FOUND AT HTTP://WWW.ERH.NOAA.GOV/MARFC/MAPS/PANY_COUNTIES_30_COLOR.HTM FOR THE PAST 6 MONTHS (180 DAYS)...PRECIPITATION ACROSS MUCH OF CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA RANGED FROM ABOUT 1 TO 5 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL. THE GREATEST SURPLUSES WERE NOTED ACROSS THE MIDDLE AND UPPER SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY. PRECIPITATION DEPARTURES FOR THE LAST 180 DAYS CAN BE FOUND AT HTTP://WWW.ERH.NOAA.GOV/MARFC/MAPS/PANY_COUNTIES_180_COLOR.HTM A TABLE SHOWING PRECIPITATION FOR THE LAST 90...180 AND 365 DAYS ON A COUNTY-BY-COUNTY BASIS IS INCLUDED BELOW. GROUNDWATER... OVER MUCH OF CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA...GROUNDWATER LEVELS HAVE NOW REBOUNDED TO NORMAL OR ABOVE NORMAL LEVELS. TYPICALLY...GROUNDWATER LEVELS ARE SLOW TO RESPOND...AND A GOOD INDICATOR OF LONG TERM DRYNESS CONDITIONS. CURRENT GROUNDWATER LEVELS CAN BE FOUND FROM THE USGS BY VISITING HTTP://PA.WATER.USGS.GOV/MONITOR/GW/INDEX.HTML SOIL MOISTURE... THE LATEST PALMER DROUGHT SEVERITY INDEX SHOWS WET CONDITIONS ACROSS THE MUCH OF THE COMMONWEALTH. CONDITIONS ARE UNUSUALLY MOIST...VERY MOIST...OR EXTREMELY MOIST OVER THE ENTIRE COMMONWEALTH THE LATEST PALMER DROUGHT SEVERITY INDEX CAN BE FOUND AT HTTP://WWW.CPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/PRODUCTS/ANALYSIS_MONITORING/ REGIONAL_MONITORING/PALMER.GIF --------------------------------------------------------------------- THE FOLLOWING IS A LIST OF PRECIPITATION DEPARTURES IN CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA COMPILED ON FEBRUARY 13TH: ...PENNSYLVANIA COUNTIES... MONTH LAST LAST SO 90 DAYS 180 DAYS LAST 365 DAYS FAR TOTAL/DEP. TOTAL/DEP. TOTAL/DEP./ % ADAMS PA 2.6 11.1 1.5 20.3 0.3 39.2 -3.2 -7 BEDFORD PA 2.3 10.3 2.2 20.1 3.2 38.4 0.4 1 BLAIR PA 2.9 10.7 2.3 21.3 3.8 40.3 1.3 3 CAMBRIA PA 2.8 12.7 3.2 23.4 4.3 44.8 1.0 2 CAMERON PA 3.6 13.1 4.6 21.3 2.9 43.5 3.1 8 CENTRE PA 3.0 11.6 3.1 19.3 1.0 38.4 -1.5 -3 CLEARFIELD PA 3.4 12.7 4.1 21.4 3.2 43.2 2.6 6 CLINTON PA 3.2 11.6 3.3 19.3 1.1 37.0 -2.8 -6 COLUMBIA PA 3.0 13.5 4.8 22.9 3.8 41.2 0.5 1 CUMBERLAND PA 2.7 11.3 2.1 21.1 2.2 39.2 -1.1 -2 DAUPHIN PA 2.7 11.6 2.3 22.3 3.0 42.7 1.9 5 ELK PA 3.1 14.1 4.5 22.3 2.4 41.7 -1.2 -2 FRANKLIN PA 2.1 10.2 0.9 20.9 1.7 38.6 -2.6 -5 FULTON PA 1.8 9.1 0.8 18.1 0.5 33.8 -4.7 -11 HUNTINGDON PA 2.8 11.1 2.9 20.1 2.6 38.2 0.2 0 JUNIATA PA 2.7 12.1 3.2 21.7 3.0 39.3 -1.0 -1 LANCASTER PA 2.6 10.7 1.5 20.6 1.1 42.6 1.1 3 LEBANON PA 3.6 13.3 3.4 23.8 3.4 45.9 3.0 7 LYCOMING PA 3.3 13.1 4.5 22.0 3.4 39.6 -0.3 0 MCKEAN PA 3.0 11.6 1.9 19.6 -1.3 36.3 -7.4 -16 MIFFLIN PA 2.8 11.7 3.0 19.9 1.4 38.1 -2.0 -4 MONTOUR PA 3.1 14.3 5.5 23.2 4.3 40.7 0.3 1 NORTHUMBERLAND PA 3.2 14.1 5.0 23.9 4.5 41.9 0.7 2 PERRY PA 2.7 11.5 2.8 21.4 3.0 39.8 0.8 2 POTTER PA 3.7 12.8 4.3 22.0 3.4 42.4 2.3 6 SCHUYLKILL PA 3.1 13.4 2.7 25.5 3.0 45.5 -1.6 -2 SNYDER PA 3.1 12.8 3.3 21.2 1.0 38.7 -3.9 -8 SOMERSET PA 2.9 13.2 3.5 24.4 5.2 46.2 2.4 5 SULLIVAN PA 3.2 14.2 4.5 26.1 5.3 44.0 0.7 2 TIOGA PA 3.5 11.8 4.7 20.3 4.1 37.3 1.6 4 UNION PA 3.6 13.9 4.8 22.2 2.7 40.3 -1.4 -2 WARREN PA 3.1 11.7 2.6 20.4 0.4 38.2 -4.6 -10 YORK PA 2.9 10.8 1.7 19.4 0.8 40.8 0.8 2 --------------------------------------------------------------------- SHORT TERM FORECASTS SHOW UNSETTLED CONDITIONS WITH SOME RAIN FOR EARLY NEXT WEEK. THE 6 TO 10 DAY OUTLOOK COVERING THE PERIOD FROM FEBRUARY 20TH THROUGH 24TH IS FOR ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION. THE 8 TO 14 DAY OUTLOOK COVERING THE PERIOD FROM FEBRUARY 22ND THROUGH FEBRUARY 28TH IS FOR ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION. THE LATEST 30 DAY OUTLOOK FOR FEBRUARY 2008 CALLS FOR WEATHER PATTERNS TO FAVOR ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES AND PRECIPITATION. THE 90 DAY OUTLOOK FOR FEBRUARY 2008 THROUGH APRIL 2008 SHOWS WEATHER PATTERNS FAVORING WARMER THAN AVERAGE TEMPERATURES...BUT NO CLEAR SIGNALS ON PRECIPITATION. THIS MEANS THAT THERE ARE EQUAL CHANCES FOR ABOVE OR BELOW AVERAGE PRECIPITATION FOR THE 3 MONTH PERIOD. TO HELP CONSERVE WATER...HERE ARE A FEW WATER CONSERVATION TIPS: 1. TAKE SHORTER SHOWERS 2. RUN DISHWASHERS AND WASHING MACHINES WITH FULL LOADS 3. DO NOT LET WATER RUN WHEN SHAVING OR BRUSHING TEETH 4. FIX ANY LEAKS IN FAUCETS (INDOORS AND OUTDOORS) 5. INSTALL WATER SAVING FIXTURES SUCH AS LOW-FLOW SHOWER HEADS THIS IS THE SIXTEENTH AND FINAL IN A SERIES OF DROUGHT STATEMENTS WHICH WILL BE ISSUED BY THIS OFFICE...GENERALLY ON THE SECOND AND FOURTH WEDNESDAYS OF THE MONTH WHEN DROUGHT CONDITIONS EXIST. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION...PLEASE VISIT THE STATE COLLEGE NWS WEB PAGE AT HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/STATECOLLEGE. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE DROUGHT CAN BE FOUND ON THE PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION WEB PAGE AT: HTTP://WWW.DEPWEB.STATE.PA.US AND CLICKING ON THE DROUGHT MONITORING LINK UNDER THE WATER TOPICS PULL DOWN MENU. $$ JUNG