(Bloomberg) -- New York City is on track for the driest month in its history after 28 days with no measurable rainfall — and low chances of precipitation between now and November 1.
Until Tuesday afternoon, when a passing shower dropped one-hundredth of an inch of rain (0.03 cm) over Central Park, New York had received only the barest traces of rain throughout the month of October, too minute to be measured even with the sophisticated automatic gauges stationed around the city. New York will likely beat June 1949 as the driest month since recordkeeping began in the 19th century.
“The flipside of this is that last year, it seemed like every weekend of September and October was rainy,” said Bill Goodman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “So what comes around, goes around.”
The dryness affecting New York City and the entire eastern third of the US can be attributed to a relentless high-pressure system, which has blocked moisture from streaming north out of the Gulf of Mexico. While climate change is known to wreak havoc on rainfall patterns, it’s not clear that global warming is a factor in this case.
“It’s not necessarily uncommon for us to have these persistent ridges of high pressure,” said Andrew Orrison, a meteorologist with the US Weather Prediction Center. “The thing that makes this one unique is that it’s been in place for so long and it’s been kind of locked in the same area.”
From Boston to Philadelphia, Near-Record Halloween Heat Likely
The high-pressure system has also hindered the flow of cold air from Canada, holding warmth in place over a large swath of the US. Temperatures in the East expected to reach the upper 70s F (20s C) and low 80s on Halloween. Orrison said the system is not expected to break apart until mid-November, paving the way for rain and cooler temperatures.
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