Rain, anyone?

With no rainfall on the horizon anytime soon, it would be prudent for households to limit their water consumption.

One municipality is taking the dry conditions seriously.

On Friday, the Palmerton Borough Water Department posted a request on Facebook asking residents to voluntarily conserve water.

Borough Manager Autumn Canfield said it’s important that residents to do their best to practice water conservation.

“We do ask that people take it seriously,” Canfield said. “If people could pay attention to it and follow the tips, we would really appreciate it.

The Palmerton Borough Water Department said this may include turning off the faucet while brushing teeth; taking shorter showers; placing a bucket in the shower to catch water while the shower water adjusts to temperature; using a broom instead of a hose to clean driveways, steps and sidewalks; limiting or avoid watering lawns or gardens; and limiting or avoiding washing vehicles and equipment if possible.

The water department said this is not a drought emergency declaration.

As of Friday afternoon, there were no areas in the region under any type of drought watch, according to Nicholas Beaty, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in State College.

“It looks like at this point, there are no portions of Carbon County in any sort of drought at this point,” Beaty said. “There is a little bit of abnormally dry conditions in portions of southern Monroe County, and northern Northampton County.”

Those eager for some rain may have to be patient, as Beaty warned it doesn’t appear as if there is likely to be any precipitation in the next seven days.

Beaty said an area of high pressure will promote more fair weather conditions that’s expected to produce mainly sunny skies during the daytime, clear skies overnight, and no widespread rain to come through.

“It’s not abnormal that conditions like this occur; we have observed that we get these drier periods,” he said. “Typically this is the time where we’re starting to dry up before the fall.”

While we’re not quite halfway through the month, Beaty said Mount Pocono so far in September has only registered 0.15 inches of precipitation. The full month average is around 1.95 inches.

“Keep continuing to monitor the weather forecasts,” he said. “Heed the advice of local officials with respect to any of those restrictions.”

Online

For more information on water conservation in Palmerton, visit https://www.palmertonborough.com/.

For more information on dry conditions, visit https://www.drought.gov/states/pennsylvania.