Improving drought and later sunsets

For the first time in several months, there’s good news coming from the latest drought outlook. Our snowy, icy, and at times rainy winter is starting to pay off when it comes to reversing drought conditions across all of Delmarva.

The mid-February drought monitor had all of Delmarva under severe drought conditions, with the northeastern corner of Sussex county in the extreme drought category. Comparing that to the update for the week of February 18th, most of the peninsula has seen a noted improvement in conditions. With central and southern Delmarva now under moderate drought status, northern areas of the peninsula, as well as northeastern Sussex, are still under severe drought. This may still sound dire, but the trend is what matters now.

Seasonal Outlook

Looking ahead into March, the Mid-Atlantic is expected to have a near normal amount of precipitation. The 90 day outlook holds much of the same expectations across the eastern third of the US.

The outlook suggests a typical spring for the area, as a weak La Nina is expected to persist into early Spring. The teleconnection is expected to shift to a ENSO-Nuetral (essentially, no El Nino or La Nina).

Stronger Sun

And did you notice how quickly the snow melted from this last storm? At least compared to the time it took after the mid-January snow. Even with a cloudy and below freezing day after the last snowfall, the melting process was noticeable. The later February sun angle is much more effective, as the angle continues to grow each day. And with that – later sunsets! The sun will set in Salisbury at 5:50pm Monday of this coming week (2-24). We’ll get our first 6pm sunset on March 6th. And 7pm sunsets will come quick – on March 9th, sunset will be at 7:03pm as we spring forward for Daylight Saving Time!