Closely Watched Monitor Says Vermont On Cusp Of Drought, But It's Probably Already Started In Some Respects

These trees along Interstate 89 in Colchester, Vermont
turned brown and wilted for lack of moisture during
the hot, dry weather we've had recently. 

 The weekly U.S. Drought Monitor came out today, and technically, we're not in drought here in Vermont, but for all practical purposes, we are. 

It's a developing flash drought, meaning it's setting in within a matter of weeks instead of several months like a "traditional" drought. 

As of this morning, the U.S. Drought Monitor said 87 percent of Vermont was "abnormally dry" up from 72 percent last week and absolute no place in the Green Mountain State the year before.

Abnormally dry is a designation the Drought Monitor gives when a region is on the cusp of a drought, and things are drying up too much. But it's not a declared drought. 

The only part of Vermont not regarded as "abnormally dry" in today's update is the Champlain Valley, which generally had a wetter July than the rest of the state. 

Even so,  the dry, hot weather weather of recent weeks has left its mark in the valley. I traveled between Burlington and St. Albans along Interstate 89 this morning and saw a lot of wilted, brown or yellow trees where the soil is thin atop rock ledges. Those spots dry out first, and the soil completely ran out of moisture to feed those trees during out recent "Death Valley Days" arid heat wave.  

In the entire Northeast region, which encompasses an area from West Virginia and Maryland up to Maine, 44.6 percent of the region was abnormally dry Thursday, up from 17 percent a week earlier. Coastal Maine and New Hampshire, and parts of western New York, have fallen into drought. 

Back here in Vermont, signs of the increasingly dry conditions are noticeable everywhere. Lawns have gone from green to brown within days. 

Lake Champlain is continuing a rapid drop. It was down to right around 94 feet this morning, down from 95.3 feet just a month ago 

There have already been a number of reports of boat groundings at Hogback Reef and Colchester Shoal between Burlington and Malletts Bay in Colchester.

Forest fire danger remained high in much of Vermont today, though it temporarily fell to moderate in the Green Mountains, which saw some showers and thunderstorms Wednesday. 

Aside from isolated showers south and east this afternoon, and mostly light showers Sunday, the immediate forecast is for continued dry weather here in Vermont. The last seven-day precipitation forecast issued this afternoon, calls for as much a half inch of rain over the next seven days in northern Vermont, to less than a tenth of an inch in the far south. 

On average, Vermont receives roughly an inch of rain per week.