Drought in Pennsylvania, December 1 to 31, 1998

December was another very dry month across northeastern Pennsylvania. This culminated a six month period starting back in the early summer of dry conditions. During December, much of the region received between 1.0 and 1.5 inches of liquid equivalent precipitation. This equates to half or less of the normal precipitation for the month. Precipitation totals for the six month period between June and December averaged 6 to 7 inches below climatological normals for the entire region. A drought watch was issued early in the month by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. This watch called for voluntary water conservation. The watch was upgraded to a drought warning on the 14th. The Delaware River Basin Commission followed suit with a drought warning issuance for those counties within the Delaware River Basin, including Wayne and Pike. These warnings remained in effect for the remainder of the month and called for a ten percent voluntary reduction in non-essential water usage.