Is York County headed for a drought? This month will go down as the driest May on record.

It's been a dry month with brown spots popping up in yards and gardens in need of watering because of the lack of rain.

This month is likely to go down as the driest May on record in much of southcentral Pennsylvania, according to meteorologists.

In Harrisburg, only 0.19 inches of rain has fallen this month. The record is 0.29 inches set in 1902, National Weather Service meteorologist Craig Evanego said. Normal rainfall for the month is close to 4 inches.

"This is not the time of year you want to be drying out," Evanego said.

For now, the Department of Environmental Protection has not listed the area in a drought watch, but meteorologists are keeping an eye on the dry conditions. A few rain showers could pass through on Saturday, but they're not anything big or widespread, Evanego said.

The area might see a wetter weather pattern in the middle of next week, but it remains uncertain, he said.

Is a drought imminent for southcentral Pennsylvania?

Kyle Elliott, director of the Weather Information Center at Millersville University, said there was a short-term, moderate drought in April, but widespread rain delivered between 2 inches and 5 inches during the final days of the month.

"However, drought conditions are on the brink of returning and in the continued absence of rain, will do so within the next 1-2 weeks," he wrote in an email.

Elliott also expects drier-than-normal conditions for this summer across southcentral Pennsylvania.

"The transition from La Nina into El Nino should continue through the summer months, but it will likely take longer for the atmosphere to respond to these changes," he wrote. "In ENSO-neutral summers, there tends to be a general lack of rainfall in the Lower Susquehanna Valley.

"We're already experiencing abnormally dry conditions heading into the summer, so continued drier-than-normal weather will only exacerbate the situation and cause drought to develop and worsen," he said.

More: York Airport records far colder temperatures than the rest of the area. Here's why.

Dry conditions leave farmers worried

Farmers are concerned about the dry conditions, said Heidi Reed, extension coordinator with the Penn State Cooperative Extension in York County.

Corn and soybean crops are the main concern right now, and in some locations, farmers already are planning for some losses because it has been so dry, she said.

Rainfall totals for this year are below normal, too, and much of the deficit can be attributed to this month, Evanego said. So far, 11.6 inches of rain has fallen in Harrisburg, and normal rainfall for this period is 16.5 inches.

Homeowners will need to tend to any new tree or shrub plantings as well as fruit, vegetable and flower gardens to keep them from dying, Reed said. She recommends watering in the evening to help reduce evaporation.

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Records in York County

At the York Airport, 0.39 inches of rain has fallen so far this month, Evanego said.

It will mark the driest on record at the airport, but the records only date to the late 1990s, Elliott said.

Southwestern parts of York County have received more precipitation in May − about one half to one inch of rain, Elliott said. So it's not the driest on record in that area.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Drought is looming for central Pennsylvania with dry conditions