Dry spell in New Jersey leads to brown grass

My back lawn started to get brown a couple of weeks ago, but looked greener this morning following last night's rain.

Still, New Jersey is fairly dry these days, and our last major drought was in 2001-02.

Monmouth County received 17.8 inches of precipitation this year through Saturday, or 6.1 inches less than average, according to the Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center.

Ocean County is in better shape, with 20.9 inches of precipitation, or 2.9 less than average, according to the center.

Here are some graphics that portray the dryness:

Source: NOAA Climate Prediction Center

Source: U.S. Drought Monitor

And globally, June was the fourth warmest since 1880, the onset of record-keeping, according to NOAA:

Source: NOAA