Massachusetts

Drought Officially Over in New England

It's the first time the region has been drought free in nearly a year

After almost a year of drought in some part of New England, the region was finally declared drought-free early Thursday morning.

The most recent drought dates back to last spring and summer, after a prolonged period of dry conditions. This spring, so far quite wet, has changed that.

Over the past few weeks the drought area had been shrinking, first disappearing in much of Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Vermont and New Hampshire followed. Finally with this week’s update from the Drought Monitor, Connecticut became drought free.

About 24 percent of Connecticut is still listed as "abnormally dry," one step below the official drought designation. Even those areas will continue to rebound with more heavy rain on the way for this weekend.

At the Quabbin Reservoir in Western Massachusetts, the source of drinking water for millions in the Boston area, the capacity now stands at 86 percent. That’s up from a drought low of 79 percent.

It’s important to remember that we’re still entering our driest months of the year, so water conservation remains key entering summer.

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