Parts of Yosemite closing for Creek Fire, lucky the Whites have faired somewhat well

[jniehof]

Star Lake is gone.

 

[B the Hiker]

Star Lake is gone.
View attachment 6492

Whoa! I suspect if someone walked through it they would find all kinds of hats and gloves that have gotten blown in over the years.

There are towns in Connecticut now that are telling residents to cut back on water consumption, since the reservoirs are getting low.

 

[sierra]

Me and my dog hike the trails around Lake Massabesic in Manchester. We have been watching the water recede and its amazing. There is about 50 ft. of dry land now, where its always water, (near the Main parking lot). I've never seen it like that before.

 

[Rhody Seth]

Very low here in RI as well. Just got a smidge of rain today for the first time in feels like forever. We're on a well and times like this make think twice about using water.

 

[DayTrip]

Star Lake is gone.
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I was up there SAT AM and there was a guy in the middle of Star Lake filtering water and I joked with him accusing him of draining the lake. It really is frightening how many of the lakes and ponds are disappearing. Lakes Of The Clouds are as low as I've ever seen them too, although they do at least have water left. All this amazing weather has made for a pretty incredible Summer but we really need a good solid few weeks of rainy weather to recover. Hopefully we get a pattern change soon.

 

[Andrew]

We hiked Sugarloaf Middle and North last Wednesday in on/off drizzle and showers. Wednesday night we had a steady rain at the campground for several hours.

On Thursday we hiked Cherry Mountain Owls Head Trail and the woods were quite wet in that area.

The rain might not have relieved the overall drought, but you would be hard pressed to get a fire going in those woods last Thursday!

When ChrisB posted this, just 7 or so miles directly west is where I live and I was mulling forest fire risk/mitigation at my home, since we were passed over by a few systems that precipitated on the high ground just east of here. His report made me think of the nature of the northern forest and how it can act like a sponge with quick uptake of moisture, but also more easily dried in the absence of precip or humidity.

This link [ https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/new-england-also-fire ] is an excellent discussion of the effects of some changing of the dominant weather (should I say climate?) patterns we have been used to. Especially interesting is the observation of the all vs nothing pattern that spurs rapid growth, only to provide more potential fuel when it dries up.

I was observing this summer how much of the new tender growth on my softwoods never got a chance to harden off before just drying up and dying. We spent the bulk of the summer hiking NE Vermont and local haunts here on the west side of the hills and the draught was heartbreaking to observe. As most know the situation has improved recently, I've had at least 3 inches of rain in the past 2 weeks or so, but has still not been enough to fill any water to the surface of my wetlands (mud is still hardpack in a few spots).

 

[Mike P.]

The Blackledge River in CT, from it's sources in Bolton to Gay City in Hebron looks like a trail, it's bone dry. South of the Gay City Dam, there are puddles and at the southern moost trail in Gay City State Park in CT, the puddles were just barely trickling, you could see the water move but could not hear it.