Severe to Extreme Drought in New England Continues to Spread

Parts of New Hampshire & southern Maine now included in drought

Every Thursday, the newly assessed drought monitor is released. This marks the second drought monitor for the month of September 2016 and without any significant rainfall since last Thursday, the area in extreme drought continues to expand.

The extreme drought (shaded in red) has now expanded northward to include parts of southern New Hampshire, from Manchester to the NH and ME border at Portsmouth. Since last week, the percentage of New England included in the extreme drought has increased by 0.49%, which not as significant of a percentage compared to the area of New England now included in the severe drought. Since last week, the percentage of New England now included in the severe drought (shaded in the darker orange) has increased by 2.74 percent. This area has expanded northward to include southern Maine, Portland and even extends to the midcoast of Maine.

drought monitor sept 1

The best chance for relief from the drought in the form of showers & thunderstorms will return by mid-weekend, late Saturday night into Sunday, otherwise, a passing storm could move in by this evening into Friday, but that looks to remain north and west of the Mass Pike.

Stay tuned for the very latest forecast from the necn Weather Team on the air, online, or on-the-go with the necn app for your smartphone.

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