The U.S. Drought Monitor has been updated, and it's not good news for northeastern Massachusetts, southern New Hampshire and Maine — these areas have been upgraded to a "severe" drought.
Since Jan. 1, rainfall deficits are over six inches in spots and some municipalities are enforcing water restrictions. Thursday's rain missed much of the drought-stricken area. This time of year it turns into vicious cycle — since the ground is so dry, there isn't any appreciable evaporation, which is key for thunderstorm development. As air evaporates, it rises, condenses and turns into clouds — as the cloud droplets become too heavy they fall to the ground as rain.
Normally, it will take a region-wide soaking rainfall to relieve a drought. This doesn't look likely over the next week.
If you live in parts of Connecticut and Rhode Island, you're probably saying, 'what drought?' A warm front triggered numerous showers and thunderstorms this afternoon. These thunderstorms were slow movers with a lot of water. Without much of a steering current we saw some localized flash flooding. Here is a list of those reports courtesy of our friends at the National Weather Service and SKYWARN:
- 2:45 PM: Scituate, RI: one lane of of a portion of Rte 116 closed due to flooding
- 2:51 PM: Burrillville/Pascoag, RI: Several streets flooded in the downtown area to at or above curb level. They include Chapel and Main Streets
- 4:02 PM: Burrillville/Pascoag, RI: Grove Street - car stuck in flood waters
Showers and thunderstorms will diminish this evening, but could redevelop tomorrow — the best chance for showers and thunderstorms will be in western New England.
