Lawns are parched amid a hot and dry summer in Western Maryland and the Potomac Highlands, but there is one shed of light to conclude the week.
Low pressure off the Carolina coast will ride up along a stalled front in the vicinity of Interstate 95 on Friday. The pattern is reminiscent of mid-August 2020.
A trough axis focused along I-95 produced downpours and storms. The downdraft from these storms expanded west as the day went on thanks to the very weak upper flow. Eventually storms multiplied and merged over Western Maryland and produced almost 1.50 inches of rain in Cumberland.
The rain on Friday will likely be hit or miss, but a few spots in our region could benefit from a quick inch of rainfall.
The rain is desperately needed as the entirety of Allegany County and the West Virginia Potomac Highlands and the majority of Garrett County are now in a level 2 severe drought.
The drought began in June during the heat wave just after Father’s Day. Rainfall has been below-average since the start of summer and continues through mid-July. Besides soil moisture running in the danger category, rivers and creeks are running well-below average. The stage along the Potomac at Cumberland is only at 2.60 feet.
Following a dry weekend, there is a strong signal for a cold front to push across the region during the middle of the week. A couple of thunderstorms are possible then.
While getting into a flash drought can occur quickly, it takes time to get out of one. A front needs to stall over the region for several days or a tropical system needs to push up the Appalachian spine to fully remove the drought across the region.