Drought

The recent dry weather in Middlesex County turned tree leaves brown and dried out grasses. News 12 New Jersey (Edison, N.J.), Sept. 20, 2019

Georgetown water customers were concerned about the taste and smell of their water, but the mayor assured them that the water was safe to drink. He blamed the summer heat and low flow of the Kentucky River for the water quality. LEX18 Lexington KY News (Ky.), Sept. 20, 2019

The corn maze in Robertson County was six to seven feet tall, whereas the corn usually grows eight to nine feet tall. Fewer pumpkins were produced, too, leading to a local shortage. WTVF-TV CBS 5 Nashville (Tenn.), Sept. 22, 2019

Peanuts in Macon County were very stressed and wilted from lack of moisture. The dry weather meant the farmer had to irrigate twice as much as usual. WMAZ-TV CBS 13 Macon (Ga.), Sept. 20, 2019

Peanuts in Santa Rosa County were hard to dig up because the soil was so dry. The farmer reported that it was difficult to get the blades into the ground to pull the peanuts up. Cotton in the region was also suffering from the hot, dry weather. Pensacola News Journal (Fla.), Sept. 23, 2019

Gov. Jim Justice of West Virginia issued a ban on most outdoor burning, due to drought. Some communities in the state were also dealing with low water supplies. Macon Telegraph (Ga.), Sept. 20, 2019 West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice amended the outdoor burn ban to allow some fires at federal and state recreation areas after officials with the state’s Division of Forestry and Division of Natural Resources made the request. Bryan-College Station Eagle (Texas), Sept. 24, 2019

Water in Frankfort was safe to drink, despite concerns about taste and odor. The Kentucky River was flowing slowly, due to drought, and was at 6.7 feet on Sept. 19 at the Frankfort lock. The Frankfort water provider initially posted about the aesthetics of the water on Facebook on Sept. 12. Kentucky American Water, supplying water to other cities in central Kentucky, also described an unpleasant taste and odor to the water on its Facebook page. The State-Journal (Frankfort, Ky.), Sept. 19, 2019

White, Cleveland and Faulkner counties were among the 22 counties in Arkansas with burn bans. A spate of grass fires in White County prompted a judge to issue the ban as strong winds, poor rainfall and low humidity increased the fire danger. thedailycitizen.com (Searcy, Ark.), Sept. 18, 2019

Heat and drought have increased the fire danger the length of the Natchez Trace Parkway, extending from southwest Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee. While there were no fire restrictions on park lands, visitors were urged to be particularly careful with fire. Hohenwald-Lewis County Herald (Tenn.), Sept. 19, 2019

A burn ban was issued for Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, due to dry environmental conditions and concern about wildfires. WBIR-TV Knoxville (Tenn.), Sept. 20, 2019

Seeding of pastures and hayfields was on hold in Franklin County because more rain was needed for planting. Hemp and late tobacco have been irrigated for several weeks. Cattle were getting short on grass because the lack of rain kept it from growing back, and some producers were already feeding hay and even selling cattle. The State-Journal (Frankfort, Ky.), Sept. 18, 2019

Pastures were dry in Far West Texas, and livestock received supplemental feed. Fires sparked easily. The Bryan-College Station Eagle (Texas), Sept. 17, 2019

Some rain fell in East Texas, but it was not sufficient to promote the growth of pastures and hay fields. Most counties had burn bans. The Bryan-College Station Eagle (Texas), Sept. 17, 2019

Late planted Christmas tree seedlings in Haywood County needed irrigation and have been affected by drought. my40.tv (Greenville, S.C.), Sept. 18, 2019

Some crops in the Fairmont area have been affected by the hot, dry weather, but not so much as if the harsh weather had occurred earlier in the growing season. WDTV-TV CBS 5 (Clarksburg, W.V.), Sept. 19, 2019

The absence of rain for more than a month allowed O’Brien Lake in the southern part of Jackson County to become depleted. Apart from drought, the water treatment center has a major leak, which will be repaired in coming weeks. WSAZ-TV NBC 3 (Huntington, W.V.), Sept. 19, 2019

Heat and dry weather have hurt agriculture and livestock across Kentucky. Pasture conditions were deteriorating and some farm ponds were drying up. Some producers in the southeast have sold cattle out of concern for hay supplies through the winter. Hay feeding began two months early. Farmers markets in the southeast part of the state appeared to be on track to end in the next week or two, although they normally remain open through October. WEKU/WEKH/WEKF NPR & Classical Music (Richmond, Ky.), Sept. 13, 2019

The Amazing Maize Maze in Huntersville will not open this year. The new strain of corn the maze owner tried failed to grow. The corn was replanted in August, but conditions were too dry for the seed to germinate and produce a crop to make the usual maze. The farm seeks monetary donations. K1047 (Charlotte, N.C.), Sept. 17, 2019

Trees in the Louisville area had yellow and brown leaves and canopies that had a half to a third of the leaves as normal. Some degree of tree mortality is expected after the dry summer. WAVE-TV NBC 3 Louisville (Ky.), Sept. 17, 2019

Many trees in southern West Virginia were losing leaves early, due to the dry, warm weather. WVMetroNews (Charleston, W.V.), Sept. 18, 2019