Expect the unexpected in our weather

Droughts are much on my mind these days, as they are persisting in some parts of the watershed as yesterday’s story explains. But now, we are seeing increasing risk of wildfires when we have those drought conditions.

We are seeing changes in our weather patterns. First it was flooding, thanks to a series of “I” hurricanes like Irene, Isaias and Ida. But it was other storms that brought floods to unexpected places — like when a no-name stream overflowed its banks in Upper Makefield Township, Pa., and claimed the lives of seven people.

Now, we’re seeing the effects of too little water, with lingering drought conditions sitting on the western edge of the watershed in Pennsylvania and south in New Jersey. 

And just today The River Reporter, Narrowburg, N.Y. carried the announcement from John Hauschild, Sullivan County, New York’s fire commissioner, of a burn ban to go into effect March 16 through May 14. 

“It kind of seems impossible, because we have snow on the ground, but our southern end of the county is very dry already,” he told the Sullivan County Legislature, and added, ” Please, please adhere by that, because again, you’re putting all our volunteer lives at very high risk.”

Makes you wonder, “Could the Northeast Burn Again?”  from Inside Climate News, this story is based on reporting out of a recent gathering of the Northeastern Forest Fire Protection Compact (NFFPC), which brought together fire managers from the six New England states, and our watershed neighbor, New York as well as five Canadian provinces.

Remember how Canadian forest fires made the air as far away as Philly and South Jersey hard to breathe? Remember those wildfires in New Jersey in the fall? How about that terrible fire on the border between New York and New Jersey near Greenwood Lake?

As we measure the effects of the drought in the autumn — perhaps a long-term susceptibility to fires — we have to come to grips with what scientists are calling hydroclimate volatility” sudden, large and/or frequent transition between very dry and very wet conditions.” 

And here’s a heavy-on-the-science article from nature.com that goes into greater detail on hydroclimate volatility.

I visited the New Jersey Highlands to find out more about them and to attend one of many meetings that New Jersey’s Office of Planning Advocacy is holding through the state on its draft State Development and Redevelopment Plan.

In our free-ranging conversation about the highlands, Ben Spinelli, executive director of New Jersey Highlands Water Protection and Planning Area, spoke a little about those very wildfires at the top edge of the Highlands where New York and New Jersey meet.

What he said has stayed with me — that once there’s a fire, a sort of impermeable carpet is laid down by all the burnt matter and that makes water, which would have soaked into the ground, run across the surface. 

There are so many ways our earth operates in conditions we will have to come to understand.

We’ve also had a new student reporter, Lake Distefano, from the College of New Jersey, writing about the Watershed Institute’s conference “Creating Flood Resilient Landscapes in New Jersey.”

And stories from collaborators like New Jersey Spotlight: Michael Sol Warren’s ‘Startlingly high’ levels of PFAS pollution found in Warren County hot spot.

And via another story from Inside Climate News, Jon Hurdle bring us “Water agency renews concern that sea-level rise will flood drinking-water intakes in Philadelphia, Southern N.J”. a report on the DRBC’s State of the Basin.

Last but surely not least, Delaware Currents won an award for Excellence in New Jersey Local News from the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University. It was for the story that Chris Mele did — an investigative piece on the 2023 Trinseo spill into the Delaware. 

Proud of him and of all who contribute time and talents to Delaware Currents!!

Thanks for reading!