ITHACA (AP) -- The Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University says the first half of 2012 was abnormally dry for the Northeast, except for Maine.
Climatologist Jessica Rennells said Thursday that precipitation data show below-normal rainfall for New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and West Virginia. Maryland and Connecticut were far below normal, and Delaware's rainfall was the lowest ever for the six-month period.
The driest cities were Wilmington, Del., Baltimore, and Philadelphia.
Rennells says dry conditions are expected to persist in a band stretching from Lake Erie east through Albany, as well as western Pennsylvania. Conditions are expected to be dry but improving slightly in Maryland, Delaware, western Massachusetts and parts of Virginia.
(Copyright ©2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
