“Precipitation looks to be above normal for the next two weeks,” he said.
By the middle of October, almost 70 percent of Maine was experiencing some drought conditions, including large parts of northern and eastern Maine that previously were not affected.
First Maine drought in 14 years Maine hadn’t experienced a drought in 14 years.
Stasulis said 17,000 people reported dry wells during the drought in the early 2000s.
Town Manager Steve Eldridge said the manganese levels in the water have dropped.
Chase’s Pond, York’s water source, is now back to normal levels.
A call to the Maine Farm Service Agency was not returned Thursday, and it is unclear how many farmers applied for aid.
They were not able to grow enough forage to feed their cattle this winter, so they had to buy extra feed.
“I hadn’t seen it green since July of last year,” she said.
The April rain has saturated the soil for now, but Sinisi is worried a dry spell could send the state back to drought.

ASHEVILLE – Drought conditions have improved in Asheville and several Western North Carolina counties after a rain event that brought nearly 5 inches to the Asheville Regional Airport over a course of 10 days.
A portion of Buncombe County was also considered in a moderate drought with a total of 35 counties across the state listed in this category.
Within Buncombe County, the western area of the county is experiencing some abnormally dry conditions, the least severe category, but the remainder of the county was not considered to be in a drought of any kind, according to the drought monitor map.
The National Weather Service recorded 7.58 inches of rainfall from April 1-26, which is 4.58 inches above normal for the month.
Within the past week and half, 4.5 inches have been recorded at the Asheville Regional Airport.
The city’s regional airport recorded 1.98 inches of rain on April 22, a record-setting amount of rainfall within a 24-hour period for that date, according to the NWS.
For the year, the Asheville Regional Airport has observed an above normal amount of rainfall with 15.92 inches recorded, according to the NWS.
Although the past week brought relief to several western counties, drought conditions will linger into the upcoming months and could potentially get worse, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Duckett said that although recent rainfall has helped the area, farmers still don’t know what to expect going forward.
58 inches | + 4.58 inches

Here is the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center’s/CPC temperature outlook for May through July: http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/lead01/off01_temp.gif CPC is estimating a 40 percent probability of temperatures running above average during that time period.
Wet soil holds temperatures down.
Dry soil allows the air above to heat more readily during the day.
It’s unlikely our soil will stay so wet later in spring and into summer, but there remains a good deal of uncertainty about precipitation trends.
That means there is no clear tendency for precipitation, with CPC’s estimate of a decent chance for drier-than-average conditions to our west in the northern and western Great Lakes.
Should wetter than average conditions become more persistent in the eastern Great Lakes, soil moisture would stay higher than average and hold temperatures down to some extent.
The CPC seasonal drought outlook reflects little abnormal dryness anywhere near us: http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/expert_assessment/season_drought.png The abnormal dryness over the southeast United States will allow the air to heat to above-average temperatures more often, and that is why the confidence for hotter-than-average conditions is higher over that part of the country and parts of the middle Atlantic and Northeast.
Threading the needle, CPC believes abnormal warmth is more likely just east of Western New York.
However, even with this wet April we’ve been having, our monthly temperatures so far are still running above average.
If that verifies, it would tend to produce more warm and humid days than average.

Mixed in with the rain was marble- to golfball-sized hail early Saturday morning, with reports of baseball-size hail north and west of Plainview.
It hit Dimmitt about 7:20 p.m., and at 10 p.m. Friday the National Weather Service on twitter reported that Highway 86 and US 385 were closed in all directions outside of Dimmitt due to flooding.
The storm moved into Plainview about midnight Saturday, bringing with it marble- to golfball-sized hail and heavy rain.
Heaviest measured rainfall was from the Mesonet site 2 miles northeast of Dimmitt with 1.87 inches.
The Plainview Water Treatment Plant reported 0.98 inch, Plainview Herald 0.63 inch and Plainview’s Mesonet site 0.37 inch.
That along with a dryline south of the front and expected weak upper support within a modest west-southwest flow aloft should spur scattered storm development Sunday afternoon and evening.
Just 0.01 percent of Texas is in severe drought, with 1.7 percent in moderate drought, down from almost 3 percent a week ago.
Those dry areas are in northeast Texas.
Currently 13.55 percent of Texas is abnormally dry but not yet in drought.
At this point in 2016, Plainview had just 0.84 inch of moisture.

From drought to deluge: Incoming rain may cause flooding.
With the Housatonic and other Berkshire rivers and streams running fast and approaching bankfull, the National Weather Service predicts that torrential downpours on Thursday and Friday could spur minor to moderate flooding in some areas.
The government agency’s posted flood watch for the entire region is up until Saturday morning.
The approaching storm is expected to dump up to two inches of rain on ground already saturated from snow melt and Tuesday’s rainfall, which totaled just over an inch at Pittsfield Municipal Airport.
According to the National Weather Service, the rainfall combined with additional runoff from the recent snow melt will cause many rivers in the region to reach or exceed flood stage.
An intensifying storm over the Ohio Valley late Wednesday was heading toward upstate New York and western New England.
Thunderstorms are possible, especially south of the Mass Pike.
Rainfall should taper off late Friday, with occasional showers after sunset.
The payoff early next week will be a stretch of real spring weather, with sunny skies and temperatures well above normal, likely into the 60s by Monday and even the 70s on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the moderate to severe drought that afflicted Berkshire County and the rest of Massachusetts since last spring has eased quickly, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Weekend storm ‘big hit’ on drought.
The amount of snow was a lot less than predicted, but the high amount of moisture from snow, rain and sleet will go a long way to help drag the region out of a months-long drought, a meteorologist said on Saturday.
“This will give it a big hit.” Throughout the week, meteorologists predicted up to eight inches of heavy snow for MetroWest.
Instead, according to the National Weather Service, the high snow amount was 2.5 inches in Sudbury.
“Most of the places are reporting between one and two inches, even three inches, of moisture,” he said.
That number does not include the moisture on Saturday, he said.
With Saturday’s weather, along with rain predicted Monday night into Tuesday and possibly Thursday, the drought could be almost gone, and there could actually be some minor flooding, Dellicarpini said.
“We’ll be getting back up to around average,” he said.
“We need to see the effects on stream flow and groundwater.
We need to keep this up for a little bit.

ENID, Okla. — A meteorologist with National Weather Service in Norman said some relief could be in sight for the current drought in Garfield County, as well as other parts of the state. Bruce Thoren said the drought map shows the top one-third of the state is currently experiencing moderate to severe drought, and Garfield County is in the moderate area. “The drought really took hold last year,” Thoren said. “That’s when the rainfall deficits started making a difference.” Still, the state is not as dry as it has been in past years, and timely rainfall has helped keep the damage lower. Thoren said relief could come quick if precipitation comes in at or above average this year. “Since the beginning of the year, many areas in the state have had close to normal precipitation,”…

() Spring has sprung, but the Washington region is deprived of water. Drought covers much of the area, and in some places it is severe. Last week’s winter storm and its messy mix of ice and snow offered some relief, but drought conditions persist. Much of the region along Interstate 95 and to the west of it is in a moderate drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the weekly assessment from federal agencies. And the zone from roughly Manassas to Fairfax to Rockville is classified as being under a severe drought. A drought warning is in effect for Central Maryland, including Frederick and Carroll counties, along with portions of Montgomery County (not served by the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission public water systems). Water conservation is encouraged in these areas. A drought watch is in place for much of Northern Virginia except for water systems using the Potomac or Occoquan rivers. Since late summer, Washington has run up a rainfall deficit of more than 10 inches. In fact, rainfall has fallen short of…

You need to have the Adobe Flash Player to view this content. Please click here to continue. SALT LAKE CITY — For the first time since 2011, Utah is officially in the clear when it comes to drought conditions. The National Weather Service said thanks to the wet winter and the recent run of warm, dry weather, our snowpack is healthy and lower-level snow has melted into our rivers and reservoirs. At Jordanelle Reservoir on Sunday, Deb Hartley and Doug Thomsen spent the morning stand-up paddle boarding. “We’re just starting the season early,” Hartley said. “It’s so beautiful out, and it’s springtime and the weather is beautiful.” The warm temperatures…

As a wildfire grew and forced evacuations west of Boulder on Sunday, the National Weather Service issued yet another red flag weather warning for the region.
Forecasters cautioned about wind gusts up to 40 mph, relative humidity as low as 8 percent and the chance for rapid ignition of dry vegetation in sections of Larimer and Boulder counties.
Beyond Larimer County and neighboring counties, the eastern half of the state is also dry or in a drought.
As of Sunday afternoon, the wildfire burning near Boulder was about 62 acres with 20 percent containment containment, according to the Boulder Office of Emergency Management.
The Sunshine Fire comes on the heels of multiple fires across Larimer County in March, including two that destroyed homes west of Horsetooth Reservoir and north of Wellington and a third that ballooned to more than 2,000 acres north of Wellington before it was contained.
Fort Collins forecast Monday: Partly sunny, with a high near 77.
Winds could gust as high as 18 mph.
Tuesday: A 20 percent chance of showers after noon.
Mostly sunny, with a high near 62.
Mostly sunny, with a high near 61.