The drought has been building since the end of August, after one of the driest falls on record. Did Thursday’s rain help with refilling supplies and extinguishing wildfires?
It has probably been awhile since you’ve noticed the pitter patter of rain on your windows.
"I’m happy it's here, it's been a long dry spell,” Kevin Meehan, of Southington, said.
"Thankful it's here and I’m not complaining about it today,” Jacie Munson, of Southington, said.
The drought has been building since the end of August, after one of the driest falls on record.
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"It's so sad, all the fires,” Joan Zaksewski said.
Hundreds of forest fires have threatened the state up since October. Some have been large like the Hawthorne Fire in Berlin. Others have been small, including one in Southington last Friday.
"It's always in the back of your mind, where’s that next fire going to be,” Greg Parzych, of Rogers Orchards, said.
He said a brush fire sparked right next to Rogers Orchards, a little too close for comfort. Parzych said it's a relief to see the rain, and he’s hoping it extinguishes any brush fire anxiety.
Other than that, he said ironically, the drought was timed perfectly with their fall harvest.
"No machinery got stuck, no trucks were getting struck, no workers were getting wet, it was nice to have a little break,” Parzych said.
Experts say the jury is still out on whether this rain will make an impact on the drought or the fire concern long-term.
In a statement to NBC Connecticut, the Connecticut Office of Policy and Management said:
“Any rain is certainly a positive but will not erase the significant rainfall deficit from the last few months. We will need steady moderate rain over several days to mitigate the impacts of the drought. The Interagency Drought Working Group will meet in early December to review various data points, before making potential further recommendations to the Governor.”
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) echoes a similar sentiment, saying in a statement:
“We are still monitoring today’s rainfall closely to determine its impact on the fire danger level. DEEP Forest Protection Staff report that if CT gets widespread 0.8 inches rain for this event, sufficient wetting of the upper soil layers will occur which could eliminate ground fire risk for several days. What remains a concern are “1 hour” surface fuels, i.e. recently fallen leaves. We will continue to monitor the weather this weekend and next week, which will be telling as to whether a truly changed weather pattern occurs that could have a longer term impact on the fire danger level.”
