June was dry, July is getting hot: NJ is told to go easy on the water
After one of the warmest and driest Junes on record, temperatures are expected to rise up around 90 this week with only scattered showers in some parts of New Jersey.
“We are getting increasingly dry across the majority of the Garden State,” said Dave Robinson, the state climatologist based at Rutgers University.
He said Monmouth and northern Ocean counties had above-average rainfall last month, but parts of South Jersey were almost bone dry and most other areas in the state only had scattered shower activity.
When temperatures start to rise and there isn't sufficient sustained rains, more water evaporates from rivers and groundwater levels fall.
Up until this point, reservoir levels have been in the normal range but they're beginning to fall and "rivers are beginning to flow on the low side," Robinson said.
He said at this point, we’re still OK but we need to be aware of how much water we’re using inside and outside our homes.
"Every time we turn on the tap we have to think about the finite water supplies we have here," Robinson said. “With continuing warmth and if we stay on the dry side, the big concern is that reservoirs will begin to fall at an unusually rapid pace.”
He also noted that while tropical systems that move up from the south can be damaging, they can also bring beneficial rains and sometimes give the entire region a much-needed soaking
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