Drought Information Statement 
for Central Pennsylvania 
Valid February 3, 2025
Issued by: WFO State College
Contact Information: 
This product will be updated February 7, 2025 or sooner if drought conditions change significantly.  
Please see all currently available products at https://drought.gov/drought-information-statements.
Please visit https://www.weather.gov/CTP/DroughtInformationStatement for previous statements. 
Please visit https://www.drought.gov/drought-status-updates/ for regional drought status updates.

Recent cold and relatively dry weather has caused a slight degradation in drought conditions across portions of Central Pennsylvania.

A Drought Warning continues for Schuylkill County.


U.S. Drought Monitor:

Drought Intensity and Extent:

D2 (Severe Drought): York, Lancaster, Lebanon, Schuylkill

D1 (Moderate Drought): Fulton, Franklin, Adams, Dauphin, Northumberland, Columbia

D0: (Abnormally Dry): Somerset, Bedford, Blair, Huntingdon, Centre, Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, SNyder, Union, Lycoming, Sullivan, Tioga, Potter, McKean, Elk, Warren


Recent Change in Drought Intensity:

One Week Drought Monitor Class Change:

A slight degradation has been observed across portions of Central Pennsylvania, with an expansion of D0 conditions.
 

Precipitation and Percent of Normal:
Precipitation over the past 30 days has been below to well below average areawide.


Temperature Anomalies:
7-day and 30-day temperature anomalies have been below to well below average areawide.


Summary of Impacts:

Hydrologic Impacts:
Several communities, primarily across southeastern Pennsylvania, continue to enact either voluntary or mandatory water restrictions.

Agricultural Impacts:
Agriculture has largely gone dormant for the winter season across Pennsylvania.

Fire Hazard Impacts:
The Significant Wildfire Potential shows little or no risk across Pennsylvania.

Other Impacts:
There are no burn bans in effect for any counties in Central Pennsylvania.

Mitigation Actions:
See “Hydrologic Impacts” above.


Hydrologic Conditions and Impacts:
Streamflows are generally running near to below average for much of the commonwealth, with much below average streamsflows across the southeastern counties.


Seven Day Precipitation Forecast:
Liquid equivalent precipitation over the next 7 days is expected to be around 1 inch across much of the commonwealth, and potentially up to 2 inches across southwestern Pennsylvania.

Long-Range Outlooks:
The monthly outlook for February 2025 is trending towards above average temperatures and above average precipitation for the month for Pennsylvania. The latest monthly and seasonal outlooks can be found on the CPC homepage.

Drought Outlook:
The seasonal drought outlook calls for gradual improvement across the northeastern United States, including Pennsylvania, through Spring 2025. The latest monthly and seasonal outlooks can be found on the CPC homepage.