You might not know it from the rain we had this week, but New Jersey is in a drought and it’s getting more serious. The U.S. Drought Monitor shows that much of South Jersey is in a moderate drought and the entire state is abnormally dry. It’s the most serious spring dry spell the state has faced since 2017. The timing’s not great because New Jersey is on the brink of peak wildfire season. Last week a 50-acre fire broke out in Burlington County.
State climatologist David Robinson says the approaching warm weather means “…we’re going into this water consumption season, if you will, without a cushion — you know, a cushion with our soils moist, the groundwater up…” And, he added, “Unless we get some heavy rains in the next few weeks, we’re not going to have that going into the summer.”
