The Drought Situation is Getting Better, But It’s Not Over.
Last week’s U.S. Drought Monitor map of New Hampshire showed the orange area of “severe drought” nearly gone from the state.
At the end of September, what the Drought Monitor calls the “start of the water year,” when Strafford, Rockingham, Hillsborough and Merrimack counties were painted in the bright red of “extreme drought,” just a tiny corner of Sullivan County was in severe drought.
The New Hampshire Drought Management Team met on Monday to review the status of the drought and to discuss some of the challenges still facing homeowners, farmers, municipalities and the state as we move into spring.
The Drought Management Team is coordinated by the Department of Environmental Services and includes broad representation from state, federal and local government, and others.
To access the state drought information, visit the DES homepage at www.des.nh.gov and click on “NH Drought Information” on the lower left side of the screen.
The drought webpage includes this primer on drought: “A drought occurs when a region experiences below-average precipitation over an extended period of time, resulting in low stream flows and low surface water and groundwater levels.
Many people mistakenly consider drought a rare and random event, but it is actually a normal, recurrent feature of climate.
As state climatologist, she is also engaged in citizen science and climate literacy programs.
The early April 2016 Drought Monitor map showed just a broad band of “abnormally dry” yellow across much of Rockingham and Strafford counties, plus eastern Hillsborough, the eastern edge of Merrimack and southern Belknap counties.