Drought Monitor Says Drought, Dryness Worsened In Vermont

Drought and dryness in Vermont worsened in the 
past week. Pretty much all of the Northeast
Kingdom is in drought (orange shading).
Virtually all of the rest of Vermont, aside 
from the extreme northwest corner is
abnormally dry (yellow shading).

To no real surprise, drought and dryness in Vermont worsened over the past week, as the state is still enduring a lack of rain. 

The latest weekly U.S.Drought Monitor, released Thursday morning, indicates drought expanded. 

Last week, 14% of the Northeast Kingdom was drought. This week, the Northeast Kingdom drought expanded to include nearly a third of the state, covering pretty much the entire NEK.

Virtually all of the state is now at least abnormally dry.  Last week 81 percent of Vermont was abnormally dry or in drought, according to the Drought Monitor. This week, 97 percent of the state was abnormally dry or in drought, the Monitor said. 

Only a tiny corner in far northwest Vermont is not officially experiencing oddly dry ground conditions. 

The Drought Monitor uses data that ends each Tuesday.  During the week studied, Vermont had less than a tenth of an inch of new rain. 

The forecast isn't encourage, but at least some rain is coming. Current forecasts give Vermont another quarter to a half inch of rain over the next several days. We'll take every drop of rain, but we could really use a much bigger soaker before winter sets in.