Drought in Maryland, December 1 to 31, 1998

This was the sixth month in a row that drought conditions were seen across Central and Northern Maryland. Persistent high pressure over the Southeast U.S. forced most precipitation producing low pressure systems to steer north of the region. In addition, record high temperatures baked the region during the first week of the month. Only 1.27 inches of precipitation fell at the Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI) in Anne Arundel County during December, 2.14 inches below normal. In the past 127 years, only one other July through December on record (1930) received less precipitation than the last half of 1998. The 6 month total at BWI Airport was only 7.06 inches, 13.66 inches below normal. The Maryland Science Center in Baltimore reported a monthly total of 1.34 inches. Other monthly precipitation totals from affected counties included 0.6 inches in Allegany, 0.7 in Washington, 0.8 in Howard, 1.1 in Carroll and Frederick, 1.8 in Charles, and 2.2 in Prince Georges. Water reserves were greatly affected by the persistent drought. The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission reported Patuxent River water reservoirs, major water storage for Montgomery and Prince Georges County, averaged 10 to 12 feet below normal during the month. Stream flows on all rivers within the Potomac and Shenandoah river basins averaged 85% below normal. The North Branch of the Potomac River at Cumberland in Allegany County was near record low flow. The Georges Creek in Allegany County which feeds into the Potomac River remained dry for a second straight month, forcing 2000 households and businesses to continue receiving water from a temporary pipeline linked to the Frostburg flow. The Maryland Department of Environment declared a drought warning on December 16th, citing South Central Maryland as the driest area in the state. A statewide ban on open burning remained in effect across the entire state through mid month because of extreme fire danger. The ban remained in effect across Washington, Frederick, and Allegany Counties through the end of December.