Drought Early Warning Update for the Northeast

Northeast Drought Early Warning Update

October 7, 2022

Drought Early Warning Update for the

Northeast

Surface Drought Conditions Improve, But Continuing to Watch for Recovery of Groundwater and Streamflow

Key Points

Extreme Drought (D3) continued for Boston’s north shore communities.

Severe Drought (D2) persisted for parts of Long Island, southeastern New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and a small portion of southeast New Hampshire.

Moderate Drought (D1) and Abnormally Dry (D0) Conditions remain in parts of all seven Northeast DEWS states.

Figure 1: Departure from normal precipitation (inches) for Portland Area, ME (blue), Boston Area, MA (black), Providence Area, RI (orange), Islip Area, NY (dark green), Hartford Area, CT (purple), Worcester Area, MA (light green), Bridgeport Area, CT (Red), New York-Central Park Area, NY (yellow). Source ACIS.

Figure 2: Estimates (in inches) of average monthly potential evapotranspiration (PET) for grass-covered surfaces for sites throughout the Northeast. Average values are based on the period 1981-2010. Source: Northeast Regional Climate Center.

The rest of this drought update, including current conditions, outlooks, and impacts, is available online.

Access the Full Drought Update

This Drought Early Warning Update is issued in partnership between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Geological Survey, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to communicate concern for drought expansion and intensification within the Northeast U.S. based on recent conditions and the forecasts and outlooks. NIDIS and its partners will issue future Drought Early Warning Updates as conditions evolve.

This covers the following states in the Northeast U.S.: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New York.

For more details, see the Northeast Drought Early Warning System Dashboard.

Additional Resources

Northeast DEWS Dashboard: https://nedews.nrcc.cornell.edu/
NOAA Regional Climate Services: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/regional
Your local National Weather Service office: https://www.weather.gov/srh/nwsoffices
NOAA Regional Climate Services Monthly Webinar Series (next webinar is October 27): https://www.nrcc.cornell.edu/workshops/webinars/2022/09/index.html
USDA Northeast Climate Hub: https://www.climatehubs.usda.gov/hubs/northeast/drought-map
USGS/New England and New York Water Science Centers: https://www.usgs.gov/centers/new-england-water and https://www.usgs.gov/centers/ny-water.
Sign up for the National Coordinated Soil Moisture Monitoring Network listserv

Prepared By

Sylvia Reeves

NOAA/National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS)

Samantha Borisoff, Jessica Spaccio, Keith Eggleston, Art DeGaetano

Northeast Regional Climate Center

Ellen Mecray

Regional Climate Services Director, Eastern Region, NOAA

David Hollinger

USDA Climate Hubs

Gardner Bent

USGS/New England Water Science Center

In partnership with National Weather Service Offices of the Northeast and State Climate Offices of the Northeast.

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