Weeks of historic drought have plagued much of the country, from Virginia to New England. red flag bushfire warnings shows no signs of easing anytime soon, and flooding may be necessary to end the weather conditions.

Adam Douty, senior meteorologist at AccuWeather, says some of the hardest-hit areas may need 7 inches or more of rain to end the drought period. He said there is no such weather pattern in sight.

“There’s an old saying that drought will result in flood,” Douty told USA TODAY. he said. “Hopefully that’s not the case here, but it’s going to rain a lot.”

Ideally, the drought will end with two weeks or more of wet, dreary weather and a succession of storms. This represents a major shift in cities like Philadelphia, Washington DC, and Trenton, New Jersey; Here, records were broken for several days without significant rain before showers reached the region on Sunday.

“Philadelphia took 42 days; the old record was 29 days,” Douty said. “They didn’t just break the record, they broke it.”

Fires are burning from coast to coast: Red flag warning issued for the northeast

Three New England states remain under red flag warning

In Connecticut, Hartford has seen only 12% of normal rainfall since the beginning of September, Douty said. Governor Ned Lamont has declared a statewide Stage 2 Drought Warning. The emergency burn ban, which applies to all Connecticut state parks, forests and wildlife management areas, prohibits the use of all outdoor grills, fire pits, campfires and outdoor flames of any kind.

Weather service in Boston Issued red flag warnings for all of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode IslandIt cites a “combination of new fires, dry air and gusty northwest winds at 15 to 25 mph on Tuesday.” The weather service urged residents of those states to keep vehicles away from dry grass and comply with burning bans.

Stubborn high pressure system blamed

Brought extraordinary weather system Wildfire in parks in New York and a fog that hung over much of the city for days. Douty said a system could bring rain to some areas on Thursday, but next week shows no signs of the type of weather needed to end the drought period.

Douty blamed a strong high-pressure system that has persisted for weeks, crushing the occasional storm systems that try to pass through Canada. The dry atmosphere and dry ground combine to suppress weak weather systems trying to pass through, Douty said. He said it doesn’t appear that a phenomenon like El Niño or La Niña, or even climate change, is to blame.

“I assume this is more of a short-term event,” he said. “This pattern will reverse and a month later everyone will be complaining that it rains every day.

On Sunday, the storm system hit many areas with 0.10 to half an inch of rain. Firefighters consider 0.10 inches “wet rain,” the minimum needed to fight spreading wildfires. Soaking was desperately needed in parts of New York and New Jersey, where at least 10 wildfires were burning in arid woodlands and grasslands.

“The streak of consecutive days with no measurable precipitation is finally over!” The National Weather Service in Mount Holly reported in a social media post. “This will NOT have a significant impact on the drought, but will briefly eliminate the danger of extreme fire.”

Southern California fire burns homes: ‘We suffered great losses’

What is a red flag warning?

Red flag warnings published by the National Weather Service It means that the combination of warm temperatures, very low humidity and strong winds is expected to increase the risk of fire danger. The warnings include strict criteria such as relative humidity of 15% or less for three hours during a 12-hour period and winds of 25 mph or more.

International Association of Fire Chiefs warned during a red flag warning Residents should follow local fire department instructions and maintain “high awareness” of anything that could create a spark or flame.

The group’s recommendations include not driving on dry grass, properly extinguishing outdoor fires and never leaving them unattended. Soak the ashes and coal in water and throw them into a metal box; Sometimes they can re-ignite days after the fire or barbecue has been extinguished. And report unattended outdoor fires to 911 immediately.

A turning point in 2024: It’s almost certain that 2024 will be the hottest year in history

The heat is also breaking records

Climate scientists have predicted 2024 since the beginning of this year. It will probably be the hottest year in history. Ten months later, the Copernicus Climate Change Service announced that it was now “almost certain.” This year is also almost certain to be the first full year in which global average temperatures are at least 2.7 degrees above pre-industrial levels, said Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the Climate Change Service. This is the goal of world leaders and climate scientists. He hoped to stay down.

The climate service said average temperatures over the next two months should nearly match temperatures in the pre-industrial era to avoid being the hottest on record this year. Hottest year on record It was last year.

− Dinah Voyles Pulver

(This story has been updated to add new information.)

This article first appeared on USA TODAY: As wildfires rage in the northeast, is there anything in sight to prevent drought?