September started with a drought watch in effect for Carbon and Monroe Counties. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection on September 16th upgraded the Poconos to a drought warning as well as most of the rest of Eastern Pennsylvania except for Chester and Delaware Counties which were placed in a drought watch. A drought warning asks residents to reduce water consumption by 10 to 15 percent. Water suppliers need to monitor supplies and update drought contingency plans. A drought watch calls for a 5 percent reduction in non-essential water use and also puts large water consumers on notice to begin planning for the possibility of reduced water supplies. The Department of Agriculture declared most of Eastern Pennsylvania a drought disaster and made farmers throughout Eastern Pennsylvania eligible to apply for low interest loans to help recover from crop losses.
A couple of municipalities issued their own warnings. East Stroudsburg (Monroe County) issued a drought warning on September 1st and asked residents to voluntarily cut back on non-essential water use. This was upgraded to a drought emergency on September 20th when its Middle Smithfield Township reservoir fell to about 50 percent of capacity. All non-essential water use from lawn watering to car washing were banned as was the suspension of fire department pump testing and water training, Sellersville (Bucks County) issued a drought warning after its reservoir fell down to one third of capacity and asked residents to cut water usage by ten percent.
September remained an unseasonably warm month, but precipitation averaged above normal because of the heavy rain at the very end of the month. It was the 5th warmest (72.9 degrees) September on record in Philadelphia and the warm season as a whole established a new record for the number of days that the maximum temperature reached or exceeded 90 degrees (55 days). Reading (Berks County) had the second most ever at 48 days. It was also the 8th warmest (61.5 degrees) September on record in Mount Pocono (Monroe County).

Drought in CARBON, PENNSYLVANIA
From 01-SEP-10 00:00:00 to 30-SEP-10 23:59:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: State Official

Drought in MONROE, PENNSYLVANIA
From 01-SEP-10 00:00:00 to 30-SEP-10 23:59:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: State Official

Drought in BERKS, PENNSYLVANIA
From 01-SEP-10 00:00:00 to 30-SEP-10 23:59:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: State Official

Drought in BUCKS, PENNSYLVANIA
From 01-SEP-10 00:00:00 to 30-SEP-10 23:59:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: State Official

Drought in CHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA
From 01-SEP-10 00:00:00 to 30-SEP-10 23:59:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: State Official

Drought in DELAWARE, PENNSYLVANIA
From 01-SEP-10 00:00:00 to 30-SEP-10 23:59:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: State Official

Drought in LEHIGH, PENNSYLVANIA
From 01-SEP-10 00:00:00 to 30-SEP-10 23:59:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: State Official

Drought in MONTGOMERY, PENNSYLVANIA
From 01-SEP-10 00:00:00 to 30-SEP-10 23:59:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: State Official

Drought in NORTHAMPTON, PENNSYLVANIA
From 01-SEP-10 00:00:00 to 30-SEP-10 23:59:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: State Official

Drought in PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
From 01-SEP-10 00:00:00 to 30-SEP-10 23:59:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: State Official