A thick smell of smoke continues to travel throughout the Shore as a forest fire rages on in the Pine Barrens, primarily in Manchester. The wildfire, which broke out in the Woodmansie section of Woodland Township, Burlington County, burned nearly 1,000 acres of the Pinelands, with about 90 percent of that area in Manchester, according to Larry Hajna, a spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection… New Jersey is abnormally dry for this time of year. In fact, New Jersey had an average rainfall of 2.18 inches, about 2.03 inches below normal. This August ranked as the 13th-driest statewide since 1895, according to state climatologist David A. Robinson… Robinson, a geography professor at Rutgers University, said this is the second “flash drought” – one that develops in four to eight weeks – since winter. Four-fifths of New Jersey, including Monmouth and Ocean counties, is now at least abnormally dry, according to Thursday’s U.S. Drought Monitor update.

How’s your lawn looking today? Likely on the brown side if you don’t water it. Indeed, the Garden State’s second dry spell of the year has grown and it appears that little relief is on the immediate horizon, according to experts… “The stream flow is quite low, the groundwater is falling, the precipitation has been definitely sub-par, but nothing of record-breaking proportions,” said David A. Robinson, the New Jersey state climatologist. “Temperatures have been warm, but not especially warm, but you put it all together and it puts us in a bit of a predicament and certainly has our guard up. The point is that all the pieces have come together to lead us to a situation that warrants attention.”… According to Robinson, this dry spell follows one in the spring that ended after the fourth wettest June on record in New Jersey. July was the 55th driest since 1895 and last month was the 13th driest August on record (preliminarily), according to reports by Robinson.

The heat will ease, but the humidity will hang on. That’s the bottom line of this week’s weather outlook, which may also feature some heavy rain and flooding, according to forecasters… Today’s ongoing hot and humid weather comes amid another dry spell in much of New Jersey, which was extremely dry in May – the third-driest May on record, according to state climatologist David A. Robinson. Soaking rains in June – the fourth-wettest on record – erased drought concerns for the time being. Meanwhile, a tropical cyclone may form soon in the eastern Atlantic, according to the National Hurricane Center… Robinson, the New Jersey state climatologist who is based at Rutgers University, said “we expect a couple of weeks during summer where the rain turns off and you’re up in (the) 80s to 90. In May, it was more unseasonable because it was the third-warmest May (on record), so we had early season warmth.”

Showplace Farms, a training center here that houses more than 400 horses, will close on Oct. 1, officials said Tuesday in an announcement that clouded what was supposed to be a celebration this week of New Jersey’s horse-racing industry… Showplace Fa…

Getting tired of the high heat and humidity? Relief is on the way, but you’ll have to endure one more day of temperatures in the 90s, according to experts… “No one is suggesting this is unusual, but what makes this so tough is the level of humidity, which is creating really dangerous heat indexes,” said David A. Robinson, the New Jersey state climatologist who is based at Rutgers University… Monday’s heat follows widespread temperatures in the 90s on Sunday in Monmouth and Ocean counties, with more of the same expected on Tuesday. This will be the first “really statewide” heat wave of the summer, although we came close in June, according to Robinson. A heat wave consists of at least three days of 90-degree or higher temperatures. But cooler air is on the way, with temperatures in the 80s expected the rest of the week, according to experts.

Dangerously hot, humid and stormy weather is back in New Jersey. A line of thunderstorms this morning produced brief but very heavy downpours, according to the National Weather Services… David A. Robinson, the New Jersey state climatologist based at Rutgers University, said Sunday “is going to be at that dangerous level. Not only is it going to be hot, but it’s going to be quite humid. (Sunday) could be the hottest and almost certainly is going to be the most uncomfortable day of the summer thus far and with that comes health concerns.”… On Sunday, forecasters expect highs ranging from the upper 80s along the coasts of Ocean and Monmouth counties to the mid-90s inland, he said.

It only took a few hours for 30 years of Patty Hershey’s life to be destroyed by superstorm Sandy. But while that devastation destroyed her home and businesses, it gave birth to a plan that might prevent such damage from happening ever again… But Hersey, of Seaside Heights, and her friend, Carol Kane of Seaside Park, didn’t want the center to just be a local effort, so they brought their idea to Rutgers University officials. While Rutgers hasn’t fully committed, they are discussing how to join Hershey and make the idea a reality… A new weather station, led by New Jersey State Climatologist David Robinson and used to observe conditions such as the temperature, precipitation and wind in the area, is also being discussed. The station would report observations to the National Weather Service and be available to help the borough “prepare, respond and recover from coastal storms,” Robinson said… Another goal for the center is to offer accredited courses to Rutgers University students in areas such as engineering and marine science. Mike De Luca, senior associate director of the Rutgers Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, said accredited courses may be developed “down the road and will focus on resilient and green infrastructure design.”

Summer flounder won’t stand up and be counted. It’s a task best left to the scientists, but the problem has always been the best way to go about it. For years, there has been little agreement between the fishermen who caught the fish and those who manage the fishery on how many fluke are around… Now the SSFFF is working with scientists from Cornell, Rutgers and other universities, along with the National Marine Fisheries Service, to develop a more comprehensive summer flounder model that more accurately portrays the size and composition of the fishery… Dr. Daphne Munroe and Jason Morson of the Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory at Rutgers University will be gathering that information. Morson has also been involved in assisting Dr. Sullivan on developing the new model… During her research, Dr. Munroe has already uncovered some fascinating facts about sex and fluke… For one thing, more females are caught in the recreational fishery as opposed to the commercial side. It might have to do with where commercial fishing is done or “it might be that females are more willing to bite bait,” said Munroe. “There could be all kinds of reasons.”