Cape May County is in a severe drought, having moved from a “moderate” designation last week, according to the U. S. Drought Monitor.
Cape May is one of eight counties, along with parts of three others, under the “severe” designation. As of last week 54% of the state had that designation.
The New Jersey Forest Fire Service has put all 21 counties in the state on a very high fire danger designation: The service’s fire danger dashboard said on Nov. 3 that fire danger is extreme.
The state is asking residents to voluntarily conserve water.
The U. S. Drought Monitor is a weekly report produced jointly by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The latest report was issued Oct. 31.
Under severe drought conditions, fish kills can occur, specialty crops and fruits are affected, fire dangers increase, trees become more brittle and vulnerable to insects, air quality is poor, and water quality declines, according to the USDA.
In South Jersey, cranberry farmers are struggling to maintain bogs amid one of the worst droughts in years. Cattle can no longer feed off grasses, driving up costs as farmers must buy feed.
October ended as the driest on record in the Garden State; there are no signs that the drought conditions will change for the better anytime soon. David Robinson, the state climatologist, is holding out hope that conditions could benefit from a weather shift, but even that is a few weeks away if it occurs.
A new worry is how the state will recover from the drought. A steady rainfall is needed; what farmers fear is the kind of heavy bursts of precipitation that would run off the dry ground and take fertilizer and seed with it.
Contact the reporter, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
