Nice Weather, Little Rain Adding Up to a Drought

Sunny skies and moderate temperatures have made it a splendid fall up and down the East Coast. But the perfect weather has come with a price: drought. And forecasters see no immediate end to a dry spell that began in August.

It was the third driest October on record for Connecticut and New Jersey and the fourth driest for Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Delaware and Virginia, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska.

In Virginia, National Guard troops have been deployed to battle several small wildfires. In Maryland, where dry conditions fueled more than 80 brush fires recently, there was a statewide ban on outdoor burning.