That's very dry, hope you get some rain real quick.
We have a system coming in from Canada that I was hoping we would get more rain out of but it looks like the heaviest rain will stay west of us.
U.S. Drought Monitor
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We have a system coming in from Canada that I was hoping we would get more rain out of but it looks like the heaviest rain will stay west of us.
Same here in Long Island NY. Even when it gets cloudy and some rain develops, it manages to miss my house.
Only plants I am watering are the roses, and some potted Japanese maples. My grass is mostly a combination moss grass and crab grass. They will bounce back.
Only plants I am watering are the roses, and some potted Japanese maples. My grass is mostly a combination moss grass and crab grass. They will bounce back.
Dan Freeman
Minister of Fire
We're under a Fire Warning starting today because of no rain, low humidity, and winds. The warning is all up and down Eastern PA and most of NJ. Yesterday, I saw no less than 6 fires while traveling a 10-mile section of Interstate 33, the main highway between Stroudsburg/Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton. They wound up closing one side all afternoon as the fires started to get bad so they could fill and get firetrucks back and forth more easily. No hydrants on the highway. Created a lot of traffic jams on the side streets all afternoon and evening.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
No better down here in the Philly 'burbs. I know that Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton strip very well, used to work, live, and go to school up there. Nice area, if you can avoid the slow-motion death trap that is Rt. 22.
Dan Freeman
Minister of Fire
After yesterday's local brush fires that closed Interstate 33 all afternoon and evening, today is even worse. The past three hours, the smoke is so thick we had to come in from sitting outside. The sun has a very weird look, and it is not from clouds but from the thick smoke in the area. I have never seen it this dry here in the 28 years we have lived here. Our garden well dried up again today, and we are deciding what to "sacrifice" down in the food forest.
![[Hearth.com] U.S. Drought Monitor](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/313/313189-843b58a1205c0c6176d3ae1bdfa8f084.jpg?hash=dVgusFURw9 "[Hearth.com] U.S. Drought Monitor")
That sucks, we did get some rain, just enough that it showed on the roads but we'll need more.
August is usually our dry month so depending on what happens the rest of June and July, it could be a very dry summer. 2018 was very dry up here, that pretty much started in April and lasted to September.
Maybe Deity can bring all of us some rain.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
So, I was outside from noon until 9:30pm today, coming in only once to eat dinner around 7pm, after which it was extremely smokey when I went back outside. I actually walked around the four houses closest to mine, and back through the woods before sending my wife up to the main road in my truck, to see if we had a local fire. It smelled like old yellow pine lumber burning, a very unique smell I know from burning very old flooring and timber scraps during house renovations.
The fire is not in my neighborhood, heck I guess it could be blowing in from the Lehigh Valley, but it was so smokey by the time I came inside that my tractor's HID headlights could not show more than maybe 200 feet. Lots of dust glistening in the beams, as I was trying to finish up my outside work, along with the special treat of my wife coming outside every 30 - 60 minutes to yell at me for not wearing a respirator.
The fire is not in my neighborhood, heck I guess it could be blowing in from the Lehigh Valley, but it was so smokey by the time I came inside that my tractor's HID headlights could not show more than maybe 200 feet. Lots of dust glistening in the beams, as I was trying to finish up my outside work, along with the special treat of my wife coming outside every 30 - 60 minutes to yell at me for not wearing a respirator.
The picture was from this morning at our house, came back inside to sharpen some chains. Hopefully things are better Wednesday morning.
![[Hearth.com] U.S. Drought Monitor](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/313/313196-9fe61fd396e6f0f3b65a1fc87f54a30f.jpg?hash=1Z20el98fl "[Hearth.com] U.S. Drought Monitor")
Ashful
Minister of Fire
This smoke is unbelievable. It's actually hard to be outside right now. Not quite as bad as yesterday evening, but even tonight it smells again like there's a fire in my own neighborhood. It's hard to wrap my mind around the fact that this is coming from Canada!
Hopefully they (and we) get some rain, real soon. Everything here is burned and dry. I've lived within 30 miles of this place for nearly 50 years, and this is close to the worst I've ever seen.
Hopefully they (and we) get some rain, real soon. Everything here is burned and dry. I've lived within 30 miles of this place for nearly 50 years, and this is close to the worst I've ever seen.
Dan Freeman
Minister of Fire
We are worse than yesterday. You can smell and taste the smoke. Today was a "fully sunny" day, but I never saw the sun. The sky is gray and it has looked like 7:30/8:00pm all day. Other than a delivery I had to make this morning, I spent the day inside.
The daily AQI on June 6th for this area was 171, that reading comes out of Cornwall Ontario, we'll see what the reading is for today when they update the site.
Dan Freeman
Minister of Fire
The AQI can change many times during the day; at least it does as I watch it in our area.
I was just checking it for tomorrow, if their plotting is correct it will be another tough day until the afternoon when things get better.
It seems that Cornwall Ontario and our town have had the same colors and AQI since this started.
It will just give me more time for the treadmill, I've been doing two or three a day while changing my eating habits, the change in my eating has been going on for 47 days. I started at 227.2 and today I was at 206.8.
The treadmill hasn't been 47 days.
Sunday is my last day and then hopefully I maintain a certain weight.
![[Hearth.com] U.S. Drought Monitor](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/313/313209-03f00f8425945140af2ed52c213ebbe9.jpg?hash=LOrCMT-I15 "[Hearth.com] U.S. Drought Monitor")
You called that, the AQI was 50 when I started working this morning but is back up to just over 100 at 4 p.m.
Dan Freeman
Minister of Fire
We've been around 120+/- today which poor quality, but an improvement. Some showers moving N to S out of NY state now, but I have faith they will peter out before they reach us. They usually do.
We had rain overnight that we needed but still need more. We haven't had much sun the last 3 or 4 days so we had a fire in the wood stove last night, felt nice.
![[Hearth.com] U.S. Drought Monitor](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/313/313229-adc8ef27a50417b007d92b725f81840b.jpg?hash=VZiaJpjiav "[Hearth.com] U.S. Drought Monitor")
Dan Freeman
Minister of Fire
I find it strange they consider less than 1/4 inch of rain in 39 days a "moderate" drought.
This is from an article from today, it looks like we have another low pressure system coming in pulling down more smoke.
How long is the smoke going to last?
The National Weather Service's forecast for smoke only predicts accurately up to 48 hours out, and during that time, there's not a lot of good news. Air quality is expected to remain poor for the foreseeable future.And even when the low pressure system moves out from the East Coast, there won't be much respite. Another low pressure system is expected to build above the Great Lakes in the Midwest before pushing east.
That second low pressure system will do essentially the same thing, Skeen said, bringing more smoky air as long as the fires continue to burn in Canada.
Some areas could see limited relief in the form of storms along the front of the low pressure system helping to blow out some of the smoke, but the improvements are likely to be temporary.
In the meantime, Skeen recommends anybody in the path of the smoke to take precautions, including wearing masks and using air filters if they're available.
We didn't experience significant drift smoke here in California here near the coast until the last 10 years. I'm familiar with the smell of fresh smoke from working as a wildland fire fighter. After a while you learn to differentiate the stale smell of drift smoke vs local smoke. It'd be great if y'all back east don't have to experience that but I think you're going to. In this summer and in future summers. Some of the fires in Canada are going to burn until winter and as the climate warms we're going to get more.
If you have to work outside in the smoke, get a good respirator. The more research they do, the worse they find wildfire smoke is for people.
bogieb
Minister of Fire
I think it has more to do with the accumulation for the year compared to the average, not actual totals within a short time period. Also, it can depend on temps and sunlight hours; hotter with lots of sun affects conditions mush more than cool and overcast. And lastly, individual conditions are not necessarily the "local" conditions. Until late yesterday afternoon, I had received only 1/8" of rain in the last month. However, not too far from me has had a couple of inches in the last week. I've had years where it rained buckets at the grocery store I frequent, which is 2 miles from me. I couldn't buy precipitation for a million dollars.
Well, today for the first time in a month, we are getting a misty drizzle. Not enough to make a difference, only .004" in the past 5 hrs., but something to keep the dust down. IIRC plants can absorb moisture via their leaves so it may help the trees I hope.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
We finally have some rain in the forecast. Well, a chance of passing showers, anyway. Record dry here, now.
I made a small trip this morning, 10 miles north of here it was raining pretty good, on the other side of that town, nothing and then no rain for another 30 miles.
On my way home in that same small town that received rain when I went in, it starting raining again and then it came down hard for another 3 miles and stopped. It started raining hard again just 4 miles north of here but nothing but some sprinkles here.
I looked at the radar when I finally made it home, once it gets to us everything is west and east of us.
On my way home in that same small town that received rain when I went in, it starting raining again and then it came down hard for another 3 miles and stopped. It started raining hard again just 4 miles north of here but nothing but some sprinkles here.
I looked at the radar when I finally made it home, once it gets to us everything is west and east of us.
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