The portion of Upstate New York considered abnormally dry (yellow) increased this week (left) over last week, while the areas of moderate drought (tan) and severe drought (orange) remained the same.U.S.
Drought Monitor Syracuse, N.Y. — While the southern part of Upstate New York got drenched again over the past week, the rain stayed away from the Adirondacks and North Country.
Today’s weekly report of the U.S. Drought Monitor shows the drought status is unchanged in parts of the Adirondacks, and Tug Hill and the North Country have gotten drier.
Farmers were already hurting from the lack of rainfall, and their fields were "suffering serious crop stress," said Cornell Cooperative Extension’s North Country team.
"Some hay fields and pastures have come back a little bit from the late summer slouch, but not all."
About 2 percent of New York state, mostly in Essex County, remains in a severe drought, the report said.
The percentage of the state that is abnormally dry increased from 8 percent last week to 20 percent this week.
The report is based on rainfall and conditions as of 8 a.m. Tuesday, so any rain that fell after that wouldn’t be included in today’s report.
The Southern Tier received soaking rain while the northern half of the state got little.
Since June 1, Elmira has received 34 inches of rain, while Saranac Lake has had just 13 inches.