LI's drought status goes to 'moderate' as recent rains ease summer's dry spell

National officials have upgraded Long Island from "severe" to a “moderate drought” status after a summer of high heat and unusual dryness across Nassau and Suffolk counties that prompted conservation measures and concern over water pressure.

The U.S. Drought Monitor released its assessment last week, noting the improvement in drought conditions on Long Island, and other parts of the Northeast, for the first time since last summer. The five classifications range from "abnormally dry" to "exceptional drought."

"Much of Long Island received 3 to 5 inches of precipitation during the past two weeks with an improvement from severe to moderate drought,” said Brad Pugh of the NOAA Climate Prediction Center, which operates the U.S. Drought Monitor along with national agencies.

He said Long Island has seen improving soil moisture due to increased rain and 28-day streamflows are closer to average for most locations, while warning that more rain is needed to improve conditions even more.

“However, there is a continuation of longer-term precipitation deficits of more than 6 inches year-to-date,” Pugh said. “If near to above-normal precipitation occurs during the next few months, it would expect drought elimination.”

Meteorologists with the National Weather Service in Upton said the recent storms and cold fronts bringing heavy rain have helped make up for a dry, hot summer. Some parts of the North Shore now are even showing on the Drought Monitor map as merely “abnormally dry.”

“The drought was pretty bad and had been severe for all of September and thankfully we’ve seen improvement,” said meteorologist Bryan Ramsey. “The driving factors are rain and if we see normal or above average rain, we’re beginning to close that gap.”

At Islip, the typical precipitation for this time of year is about 36 inches, but total rain and snow precipitation stands at 31 inches, Ramsey said.

The unsual summer dry spell had prompted some agencies like the Suffolk County Water Authority to urge residents to take conservation measures. The water authority lifted a declared Stage 1 Water Emergency last month and there have been no water restrictions on residents since the end of September.

About 1.2 million customers served by the Suffolk County Water Authority were previously asked to refrain from watering lawns from midnight to 7 a.m. at the height of irrigation usage after the emergency was extended from the East End, where officials had said they were concerned about adequate water pressure for firefighting.

Nassau County did not impose any water restrictions, but officials with Merrick-based Liberty, formerly New York American Water, said the new drought classifications were "welcome news."

Liberty’s external affairs manager Steven Delligatti said: “While we feel relief at the improved weather conditions, we still encourage our customers to practice smart water use throughout the year as it helps preserve one of our most important natural resources and can help save customers money.”