Dry conditions, drought spread in WNY
Photo by Tom Rivers: These bales of straw are on East Shelby Road in Shelby near the Millville Cemetery.
The area is getting much-needed rain this morning after very little precipitation the past month. All of Western New York and much of the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes Region are either abnormally dry or in moderate drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The conditions have turned many lawns and fields yellow.
The Drought Monitor releases a map every Thursday, using data from two days earlier. The map uses five classifications: abnormally dry, showing areas that may be going into or are coming out of drought, and four levels of drought: moderate, severe, extreme and exceptional. Orleans County is in the yellow area for abnormally dry.
Today there are showers and thunderstorms before 1 p.m. with more showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 1 p.m. The high will be near 78.
Tuesday there is a chance of showers and thunderstorms. It will be mostly sunny with a high near 85.
On Wednesday, the high will be near 90 with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms.
The map from the Drought Monitor shows areas in yellow as abnormally dry and the pale color in part of WNY as in moderate drought.
