page_title: 2016 New York drought
section_title: Late summer
hierarchical_section_title: 2016 New York drought / Late summer
caption_attribution_description: English: US Drought Monitor map image update for New York State during en:2016 New York drought.
context_page_description: The 2016 New York Drought was by some measures the worst drought to affect Western New York and parts of the Finger Lakes Region and Southern Tier on record. By the middle of July, the percent of the state by area that was in a D-2 according to the United States Drought Monitor was 23.01%, the greatest amount since the weekly reports began in 2000. Nearly 90% of the state was classified as "Abnormally Dry" or "Moderate Drought". For reference, none of the state has ever been placed in D-4. Furthermore, The Buffalo News reported on July 22 that it had become the worst drought in the Buffalo area since their main weather station opened in 1943. There was a longer term dry period through the 1960s in New York with greater duration but less intensity.
  By July the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation had placed the entire state in a "drought watch". While the drought is not nearly as severe as other droughts that take place in the west and midwestern United States in terms of duration and crop loss, droughts of this magnitude are rare in the temperate climate of Upstate New York.
context_section_description: On August 8, a tropical system featuring high humidity and moisture was forecast to bring several inches of rain to Upstate New York over several days from Wednesday through the weekend, including enough moisture to produce up to two inches on the first day. The August 11 drought monitor report (valid up to Tuesday August 9) showed the area of severe drought increasing to 29.5%, covering nearly all of the state from Syracuse west and again setting a weekly report record, though it did not account for widespread rainfall of one half to two inches that took place on Wednesday August 10. Nonetheless, the drought continued as many locations were at a nearly 10 inch deficit for the year. The August 16 drought monitor report showed that while the severe drought area declined slightly, six percent of the state was upgraded to D3 (Extreme Drought), a first for the state during the summer (about 3% of state around New York City saw D3 drought in spring 2002) The area was a long narrow strip from Lake Erie to the northern half of Seneca County, roughly along the I-90 corridor, as well as a spot in the southern Finger Lakes. The Extreme Drought area remained the same for the next two weeks, other than the removal of the western fringe in Erie County.
  The September 6 report saw the D3 Extreme Drought area double to nearly 10% of the state, with the main area and spot to the southeast being connected. Also during this time (August 29), the United States Department of Agriculture designated 15 New York counties as drought disaster areas, qualifying some local farmers for low interest loans. The counties are Cayuga, Chemung, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Ontario, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins, Wyoming and Yates. Some surrounding counties were also eligible for the loans, available for eight months after August 29. In all about 18,000 farms covering 3.7 million acres are eligible for the funding when four related drought counties in Pennsylvania are included. New York State and agricultural representatives toured drought-stricken areas in early September. They included Senator Tom O'Mara, Senator Patty Ritchie New York State Department of Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball.
  In combination with also being one of the warmest summers in the area, including a sunny June and July and the hottest August on record for Rochester, the drought was worse than rainfall data would suggest, making it possibly the worst drought on modern record when the two factors were considered together.
caption: September 6 Drought Monitor report showing virtually the entire Finger Lakes region in a D-3 Extreme Drought state.
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