A Warm and Dry May May 2007 Climate Summary New Jersey State
Climatologist Center for Environmental Prediction, Cook
College/NJAES, Rutgers University June 3, 2007 The record wet
conditions of April were only a memory this past May. Dry
weather enveloped the Garden State, where, on average, only
1.55" of precipitation fell. This totals some 2.75" below the
4.30" average. May 2007 went into the record books as the 11th
driest since 1895, and the most parched since 1993. The driest
was in 1903, when the state wide average was 0.53". Early in the
month surface conditions quickly dried, to the point where
17,000 acres of the Pinelands went up in flames, primarily on
the 15th and 16th (click here for MODIS satellite image from
2:25 PM on May 16 of smoke from the Pinelands fire, courtesy of
NASA). Ground water levels and the discharge of rivers continued
to diminish throughout the month, while the rains of April
helped to keep the capacities of our reservoirs close to average
as we enter the three warmest and most