NCDC: Climate of 2002 - June - Virginia Drought

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Climate of 2002 - June
Virginia Drought

National Climatic Data Center, 15 July 2002

June marked the third consecutive month with below to much below normal precipitation averaged across the state. For Virginia, the dryness of the last 12 months has been interrupted by several wet periods. But severe long-term deficits remain, with the state having the driest October-June, September-June, and August-June on record in 2002 (see table below). The recent dryness has had significant agricultural impacts. According to the USDA, 56% of Virginia's pasture and range land was rated in the poor to very poor category by early July.

Period	Rank
Statewide Precipitation Ranks for Virginia , 2001-2002
Jun	12^th driest
May-Jun	22^nd driest
Apr-Jun	21^st driest
Mar-Jun	30^th driest
Feb-Jun	13^th driest
Jan-Jun	15^th driest
Dec-Jun	15^th driest
Nov-Jun	5^th driest
Oct-Jun	1^st driest
Sep-Jun	1^st driest
Aug-Jun	1^st driest
Jul-Jun	3^rd driest

Virginia statewide precipitation departures, January 1998 - present

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Virginia statewide Palmer Z Index, January 1998 - present

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Virginia statewide precipitation, August-June 1895-2002

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Virginia statewide Palmer Hydrological Drought Index, January 1900 - June 2002

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NCDC / Clim. Monitoring / Climate-2002 / Jun / U.S. Regional Drought / Search / Help

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