Drought in Pennsylvania, January 1 to 31, 1999

January 1999 finally broke a string of unseasonably dry months that prevailed during the second half of 1998 across most of Eastern Pennsylvania. Conditions did not look promising at the start of the month. On January 5th, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) issued a conditional drought emergency. Heavy precipitation on the 3rd gave the area a temporary reprieve from going straight into a drought emergency. The DRBC expected that threshold to be reached on January 25th. Streamflow on both the Lehigh and Delaware Rivers was only 50 percent of normal. In Bucks and Montgomery Counties the North Penn and North Wales Water Authorities were still requesting a voluntarily reduction of water consumption. Subsequent heavy precipitation events on the 15th, 18th and 24th started replenishing reservoir and streamflow levels. By the 15th, Philadelphia Suburban Water Company's Green Lane Reservoir's capacity had risen 10 percent. After the 24th's precipitation event, the Springton Lake Reservoir in Delaware County was approaching normal levels. On a county weighted average, January monthly precipitation was 182% to 267% of normal. It ranged from 6.0 inches in Philadelphia County to 8.8 inches in Monroe County. The monthly precipitation total was 5.42 inches at the Lehigh Valley International Airport and 4.89 inches at the Philadelphia International Airport.