Vermont Drought Eases, But Looks Like It Will Re-Assert Itself

Latest drought monitor shows things improving in
Vermont. Drought area, in orange, shrunk a 
lot from the previous week, and southern
Vermont even lost its abnormally dry designation.
However, weather forecasts for the next two weeks
indicate very dry weather, so back we go into 
drought, probably. 

Soaking rains at the beginning of this month eased, but did not entirely erase lingering dry conditions here in Vermont. 

And if forecasts for the next couple of weeks are correct, any drought that's still out there will start to worsen again.

According to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor, about 25 percent of Vermont was in drought as of May 11, down from 75 percent a week earlier.  Drought conditions are now mostly east of the Green Mountains north of Springfield.

All of Vermont was at least abnormally dry two weeks ago, but that designation was removed from southwestern Vermont in the past week. 

The whole Northeast has gotten better with dry conditions over the past month. The drought left in the region is those areas in Vermont and a small pocket in northern New York.

Now that we've seen improvement, we're unfortunately going to go back the other way. In the next few days, the best we'll do is scattered light, hit or miss showers.  Long range forecasts going out two weeks call for below normal rainfall. 

Humid weather can slow the drying process if the showers get shut off. But we're out of luck there, too.  This time of year, we can get the first muggy summer-type air of the season. 

But it looks like it will be relatively warm, but dry with low dew points most of the time for the next week or two at least.  At least the weather will be mostly nice, anyway. 

The bottom line is we'll still have to watch the water levels as we head into summer. 

At least we in Vermont are not doing nearly as bad as other parts of the nation with drought. Most of the western half of the United States is in drought. In the Southwest, it's extreme drought and the prospects for any rain out there are poor.

Wildfires have already broken out in Arizona and California, weeks or even months before they usually do.  It'll be a long, hot, troublesome summer out there.