The dearth of rainfall has resulted in several local municipalities enacting burn bans.

Palmerton, Nesquehoning, Slatington, Summit Hill, and Washington Township are among those currently with burn bans in effect.

Area crews were called out to brush fires over the weekend and Thursday.

A bonfire that had been scheduled Thursday night at the Tamaqua Area Sports Stadium has been postponed to a date to be determined.

Tom Kines, a senior meteorologist with AccuWeather, said it’s been quite a while since our area has received any substantial rainfall.

“It’s been dry and if we hadn’t gotten that wet stretch at the end of September, it would be a whole lot worse right now,” Kines said. “Fortunately, we did have the beneficial rains that we got there where it was cloudy and damp and wet.”

It doesn’t appear that’s about to change anytime soon, Kines said.

“Since then and even before that it was very dry,” he said. “At least in the foreseeable future we’re not seeing any significant rain on the way.

“There will be a couple of cold fronts that will come through here, none of them look like they’re going to give us a whole lot of rain.”

Kines estimated that it could be a few more weeks before we can get out of the current dry pattern.

“There are signs that maybe toward the middle of November, that we might see a pattern change which could allow some rain to get into our neck of the woods; keep your fingers crossed for that,” he said. “It can’t stay dry forever.”

Kines said that we could get a pattern change in mid-November.

“I don’t know that it would stick around,” he said. “The way it looks now is that at least for a week or two that we’ll have opportunities for some rain.”

Kines said “the Gulf of Mexico moisture supply has been kind of off,” which contributed to the lack of rainfall.

“We haven’t had southerly winds coming, or southeast winds coming from the Atlantic,” he said. “Both those wind directions will give us rain eventually, but for the past few weeks, that hasn’t been the case.”

Kines added that stretch we had back in September was caused by east or northeast or southeast winds (winds coming off the ocean).

“It hasn’t been just locally,” he said. “There’s been a large part of the country, especially east of the Rockies that’s been dry for the past several weeks, so we’re not alone in this.”

In the meantime, Kines suggested several tips people should try to adhere to.

“Try to cut down on water usage if you can; it’s probably not a good idea to be doing any burning outside these days,” he said. “If you do you’ve got to find ways to keep it contained, whether it’s a big barrel or whatever, make sure that the area around your burn pile is cleared away.”

Kines said one thing that has helped, with the exception of Thursday, is that we haven’t had a whole lot of windy days of late.

“If you have to burn outside, do it on a day when there’s not a whole lot of wind,” he said.

Wesley Robinson, press secretary, Department of Community and Natural Resources, said people need to be careful whenever burning outside.

“Even if conditions aren’t dry, there’s always the risk of a fire getting out of control,” Robinson said. “In a situation where things are drier and there is a drought, we want people to be extra careful.”

Robinson said that 99% of wildfires are caused by humans by either loose cigarette butts, burning trash and it getting out of hand, and improperly extinguished campfires.

“This is an opportunity to practice good, safe behavior, and to make sure we’re not harming the environment,” Robinson said. “I think the main thing people have to understand is that you have a role in keeping our environment safe, and by making conscious choices to keep fires away from dried grass, leaves, and the things that can cause something to get out of control is really important.”

Robinson added that past practices don’t always apply.

“I think a lot of times people make decisions because that’s what we’ve always done,” he said. “Even the most expert has to be careful, take certain precautions.”