Nearly 70% Of New England In Level 2 Or 3 Drought As Flash Droughts Become More Common, Faster

Eighty-two percent of New England is experiencing drought conditions, affecting everything from wildfire risk to the vibrancy of the region’s iconic fall foliage. As farmers across the region struggle with shrinking crop yields and wells run dry, some of the nation’s leading climatologists are wondering whether flash droughts in New England are becoming the new normal. Despite 2021 and 2023’s record floods drawing media and policy attention, the region has seen an unprecedented run of dry spells for an area considered water-rich.

New England’s climate has long been defined by moderation: mild summers, brilliant autumns and winters cold enough to sustain skiing and snowmobiling. Spring, by contrast, is better known for “mud season”—a mix of melting snow and steady rain that turns fields and roads into sticky brown sludge, but reliably recharges soils and reservoirs.

That seasonal balance could be changing. As temperatures rise and weather patterns grow more erratic, scientists say one of the most significant shifts for New England may be the rise of flash droughts—generally described as rapid-onset dry spells that last a few months. Because the Northeast is typically a wet region, drought isn’t something people expect, and their understanding of it isn’t as developed as in drier parts of the country, according to Lesley-Ann Dupigny-Giroux, a professor of climatology at the University of Vermont.

That understanding is now being tested. As of October 21, nearly 70 percent of New England is in severe to extreme drought, with northern areas hit hardest. Vermont and New Hampshire are both experiencing their most widespread extreme droughts since the U.S Drought Monitor began in 2000, while 35 percent of Maine is in extreme drought—the state’s largest such event since 2000. Massachusetts has been less impacted, with about 43 percent of the state in moderate drought.

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https://insideclimatenews.org/news/06112025/new-england-drought-risk/