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Current Rain in Maine Won’t Stay as Drought Continues, Upcoming Winter Less Snowy

Photo: 560 WGAN Newsradio


Drought conditions are still in place in Maine, even with the current run of two straight days with rainfall.

Accuweather meteorologist Joe Lundberg says the current run of storms will bring one-to-two inches of precipitation, but no sustained rainfall for the foreseeable future.

“Once this gets out of here tomorrow, we dry out again, and we’re going to have a distinct lack of rain for probably a week to 10 days after that,” said Lundberg.

Lundberg says Maine would need a continuous string of storm systems to put a dent in the current drought, which is not likely.

More than 60 percent of Maine in now under severe drought, including the entire southern portion of the state, while a small section is experiencing extreme drought.

A notable positive effect of the current spell of precipitation is reflected in the state being under “moderate” fire danger, after an extended period of ‘high” fire danger.

Looking ahead, the Farmer’s Almanac is calling for a cold and snow-filled winter for New England, but there’s not widespread agreement among forecasters about that prediction.

Lundberg says Accuweather just came out with their “going long” forecast, which does not forecast heavy snow.

“We don’t think that, like last winter, there will be a lot of storms, what we call nor’easters, coming up the eastern seaboard,” Lundberg said. “That’s how you get some big precipitation events, big rain and or snow. And we don’t think will be a lot of those this coming winter season.”

Meanwhile, previous dry spells, such as the one Maine is currently experiencing, were twice followed by historically snowy winters in 1968 and 1995.

Much of Maine is currently under severe drought, while a small portion is under extreme drought.

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