CANTERBURY, Conn. — Drought concerns are getting real in southern New England.
Around 32% of Connecticut, mostly east of the river, is now considered to be in a severe drought. If the lack of rain keeps up, that area will expand.
"This summer has been challenging. It started out great. Every season is new and exciting, with so much hope. Then in June, it started to dry out," Libby Tarleton, of Russo's Roots in Caterbury told us it has been a challenging couple of months.
"Then July came and we didn't get any rain at all. I actually looked back at my notes and Aug. 1 we got a quarter of an inch, and the last time before that was the end of June, so we got no rain in July at our farm," Tarleton said, suggesting any thunderstorms that popped up missed them.
It's been a couple of years of extremes.
Last summer was soaked with rain, especially thanks to tropical systems like Henri and Ida.
"A lot of farmers were like, gosh, I just hope we don't have the same amount of rain we had last year. Maybe we wished for that a little too much and now we're in a drought," Becca Toms, communications coordinator for UConn Extension's Grown Connected, told FOX61.
There are signs these swings year to year could become more frequent in our warming climate.
Not every summer will bring drought, and not every summer will be washed out. However, research suggests that extremes may become more common.
Local farmers are keeping up with irrigation, but it's been a challenge.
"We have an on-farm pond that we use for most of our irrigation, but as anyone who has a home garden knows, you can water a lot, but it doesn't help as much as a cold rain," Tarleton said, adding the plants aren't growing as fast as they would usually.
Most natural irrigation sources are running low, not only from drawing on them but because of the evaporation on warm, sunny days.
Ahead of planting fall crops, Russo's Roots had to irrigate the soil before seeding, and then irrigate after. Tarleton said they've never had to do that since the soil usually holds at least a bit of moisture.
There's still plenty of good local produce at local farmers markets and farm stands. However, the process to get it to the consumer is more challenging in a season like this one.
"It's just they aren't doing as well. I like to say they are surviving, not thriving," Tarelton said.
Ryan Breton is a meteorologist at FOX61 News. He can be reached at rbreton@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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