Stark County is seeing abnormally dry conditions as drought becomes extreme in the south

If your gardens are drying up and shriveled from the August heat, blame the lack of rain.

Close to 40% of Stark County now is categorized as abnormally dry, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM).

The conditions worsen further south, as a large part of the southern sector of the state ranges from categorizations of moderate to extreme drought.

More than 3 million Ohio residents are in areas of drought this week, a 21.6% increase from the week prior.

"Abnormal dryness and moderate to extreme drought expanded in Ohio, with exceptional drought being added for the first time in the state’s USDM history," according to the USDM.

The drought conditions in the state are the most extreme for the area since the USDM began in 2000.

"This is the first that a D4 exceptional drought was recorded anywhere in the state of Ohio, so that's noteworthy," said Rick Garuckas, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Cleveland.

How is the drought impacting Ohio?

Aaron Wilson, the state climatologist of Ohio, said agricultural problems are at the forefront of concerns from drought conditions in the state now.

"Pastures are not growing. They're pretty much dormant or dead at this point, so livestock producers are having to feed hay that they typically wouldn't feed until the wintertime," he said. "The question then becomes how much of that winter feed are they using on the livestock as it moves forward."

Creeks and rivers are at very low levels as well, Wilson said, and crops are having a tough time.

"We haven't heard too many impacts on things like municipal water yet ...," Wilson said, "But there are isolated water issues, water conservation being encouraged in certain places. And I think depending on what our conditions look like the next few weeks, we can start to see could start to see more considering over water conservation in other areas of the state as well."

Wilson said the drought conditions carry with them a risk of fires, which will continue to be monitored.

"Right now, the fire risk in southern Ohio has been really low intensity with the fire because there's still plenty of green underbrush," he said. "As we start to harvest statewide ..., the risk of combine and field fires, that risk is going to be elevated for the upcoming harvest season."

What does the drought mean for Stark County?

The drought is already impacting the Stark County area, as a large portion of the county is classified as "abnormally dry" on the USDM. This is the lowest classification of drought on the monitor, but Garuckas said this could change.

"Right now, it is just the southern part of Stark County," he said. "I can't say specifically how much it'll increase in Stark County, but the overall weather pattern does point to the odds being pretty good that the dry conditions will expand a little bit more from what they are right now over the next 10 to 14 days."

When will the drought end?

Wilson said it's hard to tell how long drought conditions will last, even though temperatures are expected to cool throughout the state in the next few days and into next week.

"As we head from August into September and then certainly October, this is one of the driest times of the year," he said. "If we are to bust this drought really well, we'd have to see a pretty big change in the weather pattern.

Those looking for more information on drought conditions in Ohio can find it at https://climate.osu.edu/drought .

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Stark County is seeing abnormally dry conditions as drought becomes extreme in the south