Northeast News

Drought Intensifies, Rain Expected for Coastal Areas
Drought intensified this week as little, if any, precipitation fell across the Northeast and issues such as low streamflow and groundwater levels and increased wildfire risk persisted. Significant drought impacts continued to be reported, particularly in northern New England and parts of New York, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Current outlooks indicate some relief could be on the horizon for coastal areas.

• All of Vermont remained in drought for a record-setting sixth consecutive week (since the U.S. Drought Monitor began in 2000).
• Vermont and New Hampshire had their highest coverage of extreme drought in the history of the U.S. Drought Monitor (since 2000).
• Extreme drought grew in northern New England and was introduced in northeastern New York.
• Severe and/or moderate drought was introduced/expanded in parts of eight Northeast states.
• Streamflow and groundwater levels remain well below normal in multiple areas, with hundreds of dry/low well reports in Vermont and Maine and dozens of water supplier with mandatory restrictions in New Hampshire.
• Significant agriculture impacts, particularly related to livestock, continue to be reported.
• A coastal storm is expected to drop between 1 and 5 inches of rain on coastal communities from eastern Maryland to southern Maine over the next seven days.
• Short-term outlooks for October 14-18 favor below- or near-normal precipitation for most of the Northeast, with much of New England predicted to be wetter.

For the latest information, visit the Northeast DEWS Dashboard (to see the full Northeast, click on the grayed-out Pennsylvania in the map in the top left) and the Northeast Drought Update. Submit drought impact reports via the Condition Monitoring Observer Reports (CMOR) page.

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