Parts of New England Upgraded to Extreme Drought

Since June 1, Boston has only received 3.02" of rainfall, making it the driest summer season so far since 1957.

To put that into perspective, Boston averages at least nine inches of rainfall in a summer season.

With the newly released Drought Monitor dispersed early Thursday, the Boston metro area along with parts of southern New Hampshire are now upgraded to an extreme drought.

The rest of Massachusetts is included in a moderate to severe drought with nearly 6.4 million affected in total. On a state-by-state level, Massachusetts expanded its drought declaration, Connecticut continues its drought declaration, and now Rhode Island has issued a drought advisory.

As far as water restrictions, since Aug. 1, Massachusetts has had mandatory non-essential outdoor water use restrictions in place. These water restrictions were mainly in eastern and central Massachusetts.

In the extended forecast, besides a passing shower in Connecticut and along the Cape through Friday, the rest of the area remains dry through the first half of the weekend. Sunday evening and Monday brings the next threat for thunderstorms, but these do not look substantial enough to drop nearly enough rainfall to alleviate the drought.

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