Almost all of Rhode Island is now experiencing "Extreme Drought" conditions. Storm team 10 meteorologist Christina Erne reports that the state has had 6.4 inches below average rainfall for the year to date. Wow. That's dry.
Not only has the lack of rain resulted in brown lawns, water restrictions, increased fire risk and dead plants, but it may also mean we see an early fall. Due to the dry conditions, Christina says we can expect some tree leaves to turn brown and drop much earlier than normal. In fact, she says it could start this week, with breezes on Thursday accelerating the leave loss before we even hit late August.
Over the past week, I have noticed the oak trees in my yard shedding boughs more often than usual for August, so now I know why! Not much we can do about all this. Let's just hope we get some rain soon. Otherwise, we'll see a negative impact on fall foliage, the apple/pumpkin harvest and the price of Christmas trees.
photo: Getty Images Source: WJAR-TV NBC10