Earlier this month, smoke from drifted to the Champlain Valley. And in New York City, there was just .01 inches of rainfall recorded in October 鈥� .
The drought that has plagued this fall is expected to continue through the winter, according to . The region is expected to see because of human-caused climate change.
That鈥檚 true, even though forecasts show this winter, and a Thanksgiving storm brought to parts of Vermont.
鈥淏ecause we are so far in deficit 鈥� some places are about 8 inches below where they should be for precipitation 鈥� so that will take several events to get back to normal conditions,鈥� said Jessica Spaccio, a climatologist at the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University.
鈥淎 couple storms won鈥檛 erase all the drought everywhere,鈥� she added.
But drought conditions could turn quickly, said Peter Banacos, the science operations officer at the National Weather Service Burlington office.
鈥淭he northeastern U.S. is one of the most reliable rainfall climatologies in the entire world,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o even though we're seeing abnormally dry conditions right now, it can certainly change.鈥�
Over the next few weeks, a dip in the jet stream is expected to bring colder-than-normal temperatures to much of the eastern U.S. Still, across the Northeast compared to the last 30 years, according to NOAA鈥檚 Climate Prediction Center.
鈥淚t's all done in probabilities, because we can't be certain,鈥� Banacos said.
鈥淥bviously weather is very dynamic, and so you're still going to get low pressure systems, but it's saying that it's probably going to be a little bit more persistently an area of high pressure along the East Coast,鈥� he added.
That鈥檚 in line with a La Ni帽a climate pattern, which refers to sea surface temperatures in the Pacific and changes the path of the jet stream over North America.
鈥淭his La Ni帽a is not expected to be very strong,鈥� Spaccio said. 鈥淪o we may see other factors that override the La Ni帽a.鈥�
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