Wildfire Nears New York City
Wildfires, which usually burn near the West Coast and Texas, moved east this last week. One set destroyed hundreds of acres in North and South Carolina. Another set hit Long Island, near West Hampton, and spread along the Sunrise Highway toward New York City. It is the closest wildfires have been to America’s largest city since it was directly hit last November, starting small blazes in Prospect and Central Park.
Fire In Central Park
The Long Island wildfires are a reminder of how ubiquitous America’s drying has become. In the summer, a look at the U.S. Drought Monitor map showed that the driest area in the country was along the West Virginia and southeast Ohio border. This was so severe that it dropped the level of the Ohio River, which in turn lowered the Mississippi River, interrupting barge traffic.
The Drought Monitor map has become a patchwork of areas suffering from drought nationwide. There is an exceptional drought in southwest Texas and New Mexico, which is to be expected historically. Again, this is a regular pattern, and it extends over most of Arizona.
Dry In New Jersey
Much of Colorado and Nebraska suffer from drought, which is not a regular pattern. Some areas of the northern Midwest are also dry. Finally, it is extremely dry in southern New Jersey. Less dry but still suffering from drought are the areas around New York City.
It would be an overstatement to say that wildfires could hit any of the high-drought areas in the US. Those in New York state, however, show some risk.
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