Vermont Drought Eased At Faster Pace Last Week; Northeast Overall Improved

Latest U.S. Drought Monitor map for Vermont, 
issued yesterday. Definitely some improvement.
Extreme drought now down to less intense
severe drought in Northeast Kingdom
Much of Vermont is out of drought,
mostly just "abnormally dry" --yellow
color. Much of the central and northern 
Champlain Valley is no longer in drought at all,

 Drought conditions improved quite a bit in Vermont over the past week, according to the latest weekly U.S. Drought Report, which was released Thursday. 

For the most part, the intensity of the drought took one step down for almost the entire state. 

The area of extreme drought that covered about 25 percent of the state in the Northeast Kingdom improved to severe drought. It's the first time since September 9 that no regions in the Green Mountain State were in extreme drought. 

Severe drought in central Vermont eased to just moderate drought.

 Most of western and far southern Vermont went from moderate drought to just "abnormally dry" which means it's still a little bit parched but  a full blown drought has disappeared. 

And, for the first time since August 12, at least a small part of Vermont is no longer even abnormally dry. 

Most of the central and northern Champlain Valley was abnormally dry last week, but this week, that same region is hunky-dory. Adequate ground water, normal stream flows.  Nothing to worry about in terms of dryness. 

The bottom line is we're still not out of the woods in Vermont, but we are in much better shape than we were a month ago. Keep those rain dances going, though. 

The drought in Vermont seems to have peaked in mid-October and has been improving ever since.  About 41 percent of the state was still in drought with this week's report. That's the lowest percentage since August 19. 

The improvement can easily be seen on Lake Champlain. On October 19, the lake reached its lowest level of the drought at 92.81 feet. People could walk to places like Law and Mosquito islands and keep their feet dry. 

The lake has risen to 94.5 feet as of Wednesday. That's just an inch or two below normal for the date. 

NORTHEAST IMPROVEMENT

Elsewhere in the Northeast, the drought generally improved. Especially across northern New England, and western and northern parts of New York.

New Hampshire this week had no areas in severe drought for the first time since September 2.  About 78 percent of the Granite State is still in drought this week, but that's the lowest percentage since August 12.  

Extreme drought in Maine is greatly reduced, but it's still lingering along a small area of the sea coast near Portland. 

Of all the states in the North Country, New York is doing the best. Only a third of the Empire State remains in drought. 

OUTLOOK

The improvement in Vermont drought condition will probably slow or even briefly stall over the next week as little rain or snow is expected. 

A cold front that had been expected to give us a shot at moderate rain or a mix today is now likely to only deposit very light amounts. Some of us won't see any rain at all.

But starting nest week, it appears the weather pattern might start getting active again.  Moderate rain looks like it might accompany a brief warmup next week. Even so, only a quarter to a half inch of rain is in the forecast for the next seven days. 

After that, things have a colder look heading into December. But that colder pattern looks active with frequent chances of precipitation.  Since it will be colder, a decent share of the precipitation might come down as snow.

Snow won't immediately help with the continued dryness. It would have to melt first, to put my Captain Obvious hat on for a moment.     

Winter sports enthusiasts don't want rain. But I think we're at the point where it's OK to bank the snow now, and let the spring sunshine months from now melt the snow and finish replenishing our water.