(Bloomberg) -- New York and the Northeast are in the midst of their worst fire season in more than a decade, with little relief in sight for weeks as drought and high winds threaten to raise the threat again by Friday.
Several blazes have broken out in New York in the past few days, a rare sight this late in the year. Amtrak shut service on its rail line between Connecticut and New York earlier in the week due to a brush fire near the tracks. Fires also erupted in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park and Manhattan’s Inwood Hill Park, while schools were closed northwest of the city on Thursday and Friday because of blazes near Greenwood Lake, New York.
“For this time of year, moving into November, this is pretty unusual,” said Steve Marien, a US government fire weather meteorologist. “Typically there is a fall season, but for as warm as it has been and the lack of rainfall, it is pretty unusual for this long a period. It’s the worst since 2012.”
New York, New England and the rest of the Northeast have seen little rain for weeks, with nearly 96% percent of the landscape abnormally dry and more than 58% in drought — the highest amount since 2002. This has left the land primed for fire, and with leaves falling from trees and dry winds rushing through the area, blazes have been able to spark and spread freely. New York issued a statewide ban against burning brush and trash, as well as camp and cooking fires, through Nov. 30.
“Places like New York City, Newark, Philadelphia, and Wilmington are lacking more than 7 inches of rain since the start of September. The forecast shows little precipitation, meaning drought relief appears limited,” Samantha Borisoff, a climatologist at Cornell University, said in a statement. “Impacts such as an increased number of brush fires and declining water levels in waterways, wells, and reservoirs will likely continue until meaningful rainfall is seen.”
In New Jersey, state officials issued a statewide drought warning and urged residents to conserve water for firefighting efforts as crews battled the Jennings Creek fire on the border between Passaic County and New York’s Orange County. The blaze — which had consumed 2,283 in acres on the New Jersey side — was 50% contained as of Wednesday evening.
“Climate change is driving our record low precipitation and above-average temperature recorded statewide in September and October,” New Jersey Commissioner of Environmental Protection Shawn LaTourette said in a statement. It’s also harming available water supplies, he said.
Marien said there is little reprieve in the form of storms for the next few weeks. While some rain could fall November 17 to 18, it won’t be enough to slow or reverse the trend.
“There’s really not that much precipitation forecast over the next 10 days,” he said. Unless the weather pattern changes, New York and the Northeast “are still going to be in it for a while.”
--With assistance from Danielle Moran.
(Updates with NY state burn ban in fourth paragraph.)
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