It looks like March will be going out like a lamb -- a very dry lamb -- at least for the coastal Northeast. Many cities along the Eastern seaboard -- including New York, Boston, Baltimore, Atlantic City and Washington, D.C. -- and such inland cities as Harrisburg and Allentown, Pa., have experienced the driest March on record.

"From Baltimore to Boston we have seen departures from normal rainfall over three inches," said Keith Eggleston, a senior climatologist at the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University.

For Providence, R.I., March will be the second driest month on record; the city missed its 1981 record of 0.56 inches of precipitation by 0.01 of an inch.

March also has been drier than average for much of inland New York state, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. In New York state, the month will rank as the fourth driest March for Albany, eighth driest for Binghamton, 10th driest for Syracuse and 19th driest for Rochester.

Although there have not been signs of drought reported as a result of the dry weather, this could change if the dry spell persists into the early summer when water demand is much greater, Eggleston said. He added that despite last summer's dry conditions, levels in wells and reservoirs appear to be within normal ranges.

March 2006 values are through 3/29/2006.