Never before in the 24-year history of the Drought Monitor has Ohio seen such a range of dry conditions, according to Lindsay Johnson, a climatologist with the National Drought Mitigation Center.
“This is unusual for Ohio,” Ms. Johnson said.
Only a small corner of northeastern Ohio, encompassing less than 5 percent of the state, has normal conditions. Much of the state is wallowing in dry circumstances. Lucas County and northwestern Ohio are experiencing moderate drought. Portions of southeastern Ohio are seeing exceptional drought. The Drought Monitor releases its reports each Thursday.
“Red and burgundy [which denote extreme and exceptional drought] are not normal for Ohio,” Ms. Johnson said. “Last week’s map, exceptional drought was introduced for the first time ever [in Ohio] in the USDM's history.”
The climatologist attributes the dry conditions to low precipitation and high temperatures.
“The recent dryness can be traced back to the end of winter and the beginning of spring of this year,” she said. “It’s been a very rough summer for Ohio and West Virginia, not only the last couple weeks, even though there has been fast expansion [of drought] over the month of August.”
According to the United States Geological Survey, the Hocking River at Enterprise, Ohio, measured the fifth-lowest river level on record and the lowest measurement since 1997 at Hocking River at Athens, Ohio.
Ms. Johnson said the number of 90-degree and 100-degree days are increasing.
“This puts more stress on plants and soils by increasing evaporation, since warmer air can hold more water,” she said. “There have also been studies finding that precipitation is expected to increase but occur during more intense storms. That can mean not all precipitation will be absorbed to penetrate deep into the soil and groundwater.”
As a result, portions of Ohio are seeing poor to very poor pasture conditions with yields dropping to 36 percent, springs and private wells running dry, and creeks evaporating into nothing, according to last week’s Drought Monitor report.
In addition, soybeans are not filling their pods, corn is not filling out from one end of the cob to the other, and some farmers are chopping corn plants for feed or selling their cows.
USDA statistics indicate that more than 70 percent of the topsoil and about 71 percent of the subsoil was short or very short of moisture in Ohio.
In response to “extremely dry conditions in various areas of the state,” Ohio Fire Marshal Kevin Reardon on Friday ordered a regional ban on open burning effective immediately, Ohio Department of Commerce said in a news release.
“Fire safety is a responsibility we all share,” Mr. Reardon said in a prepared statement. “It’s critical that Ohioans understand and appreciate the significant risks associated with fires, especially during the current drought conditions. Together, we can protect our communities and environment.”
Though the counties do not include those of northwest Ohio, additional counties may be added upon designation of “extreme drought” or “exceptional drought” conditions issued by NOAA and/or the USDA within such counties or added by a written directive of the State Fire Marshal, the news release said.
The U.S. Drought Monitor’s outlook for September indicates that more drought will intensify or persist in Ohio. Drought conditions are currently impacting about 5.7 million people in Ohio.
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