Drought in Maryland, August 31, 1997

The unseasonably hot and dry summer of 1997 caused the United States Secretary of Agriculture, Dan Glickman, to declare the state of Maryland a primary disaster area and make farmers eligible for low interest loans. Statewide the corn harvest was expected to be 40 percent below 1996 levels. The hay (36 percent below), soybean (13 percent below) and apple (10 percent below) crops were also expected to be below 1996 levels. Along the Maryland Eastern Shore the corn crop was expected to be about 60 percent below normal and the soybean crop about 40 percent below normal in Kent, Queen Anne's and Talbot Counties. Only Caroline County was expected to come within about 70 percent of normal. The continued drought conditions forced Centreville to ask for voluntary water conservation. On a county weighted average total precipitation for the summer (June through August) were between 0.5 and 3.5 inches below average with the greatest deficiencies in Cecil and Kent Counties. But these totals were skewed by the heavy rain that fell across southern areas of the eastern shore on August 20th. July 1997 was among the dozen driest Julys on record in Maryland during this past century.