Drought conditions decline in Orange, Sullivan.
Times Herald-Record @MikeRandall845 As the region faced a flood watch on Thursday, word came that the drought continued to decline in Orange and Sullivan counties during the past week.
The drought increased slightly in Ulster County during the same period.
According to the National Drought Mitigation Center, readings taken Tuesday showed 92.72 percent of Orange County was under moderate drought conditions, the first of four stages of drought established by the center.
The entire county had been under moderate drought conditions the two prior weeks.
The remaining 7.28 percent of the county was abnormally dry, one step away from a drought.
The percentage of Sullivan County under moderate drought conditions dropped to 9.71 percent from 17.56 percent.
Another 89.56 percent of Sullivan County was abnormally dry, and a tiny sliver, .73 percent, showed no signs of drought or pre-drought conditions.
Ulster County’s percentage of moderate drought grew to 37.15 percent from 34.46 percent.
The remaining 62.85 percent of the county was abnormally dry.