Vermont Drought Expanded Over The Past Week, To Nobody's Surprise

Drought (orange shading) covers mostly central
and eastern Vermont as of this week. The
rest of Vermont in yellow is regarded
as abnormally dry.

The latest weekly U.S. Drought Monitor, issued this morning, shows drought expanding here in Vermont, with those drought conditions more or less holding steady in the rest of the Northeast. 

Last week, 35 percent of Vermont was categorized as being under moderate drought, covering mostly the Connecticut River Valley and central Vermont.  

This week, 54 percent of the Green Mountain State is in drought. It has expanded into the central and southern Champlain Valley and a greater portion of the Northeast Kingdom than last week.

As of this morning, about 324,000 of Vermont's 648,000 or so residents are living in drought conditions.

All areas of Vermont not officially in drought are listed as "abnormally dry" which means they are on the verge of drought.

There's plenty of other evidence of drought in Vermont.  The top one meter layer of soil in much of Vermont is among the driest on record for this time of year. 

Lake Champlain is at its lowest level in decades for this time of year. The low level can increase algae blooms. But on the plus side, the low water can expose invasive aquatic plants and kill them, which would help the overall ecosystem. 

River levels across the state are remarkably, low, too. 

ELSEWHERE

Rivers in Vermont are quiet low due to drought, like
in the Missisquoi River shown here in Enosburg
Falls, Vermont this past Sunday. 

In New Hampshire, moderate drought conditions were about the same as last week, says the U.S. Drought Monitor,  covering all of that state except the extreme south.

 In New York, a new drought area appeared this week in parts of the eastern Adirondacks and St. Lawrence Valley. 

The moderate drought grew more extensive in Maine, now extending much further inland from the coast. 

It now covers all of central and southern Maine, or just under two thirds of the state. Severe drought continues along much of the seacoast. 

FORECAST

As I mentioned this morning, the best rains for the next couple of days should hit northwest New York and sections of Maine. Both areas should receive at least three quarters of an inch of rain.

Here in Vermont, total rainfall for the next week should only be about 0.1 south to 0.3 inches north, with locally slightly higher amounts northwest and in the northern Green Mountains. That's well short of the inch of rain per week we'd like in normal times, and 1 to 2 inches per week we'd need to start getting out of the drought 

Almost all of the meager rain we're expecting in Vermont will come Friday and Friday night, with maybe a tiny bit more on Saturday.

Long range forecasts into the middle of September lean slightly toward a bit higher than normal rainfall around Vermont, but I'll believe it when I see it.