Updated Drought Information Statement For Northern & Eastern Maine - 10/22/2020

000

AXUS71 KCAR 221955

DGTCAR

MEC003-009-019-021-029-292000-

DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CARIBOU ME

355 PM EDT THU OCT 22 2020

SYNOPSIS...

RECENT MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN EVENTS ON OCTOBER 13TH AND 14TH 

PRODUCED 1 TO 3 INCHES OF RAIN WITH LOCAL AMOUNTS NEAR 4 INCHES 

ACROSS PARTS OF THE AREA. A SECOND MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN EVENT 

FOLLOWED ON OCTOBER 16TH INTO THE 17TH AND PRODUCED ANOTHER 

WIDESPREAD 1 TO 2 INCHES OF RAIN ACROSS THE REGION WITH LOCAL 

AMOUNTS IN EXCESS OF 3 INCHES. 

THE RECENT MODERATE TO HEAVY EVENTS COMBINED WITH PREVIOUS 

RAINFALL THIS MONTH HAVE MADE SIGNIFICANT ONE TO TWO CATEGORY 

IMPROVEMENTS IN DROUGHT CONDITIONS ACROSS THE REGION. ALL OF 

NORTHERN AND EASTERN MAINE IS NOW CLASSIFIED AS BEING IN MODERATE 

DROUGHT (D1). THE ONLY EXCEPTION IS COASTAL AND SOUTHWEST HANCOCK 

COUNTY WHICH REMAINS IN SEVERE DROUGHT (D2)

PRECIPITATION DURING THE PAST 30 DAYS HAS BEEN HIGHLY VARIABLE

ACROSS THE REGION RANGING FROM 200 TO 300 PERCENT OF NORMAL FROM 

THE KATAHDIN REGION NORTH AND GENERALLY FROM 90 TO 130 PERCENT OF

NORMAL TO THE SOUTH OF THE KATAHDIN REGION. DURING THE PAST 90 

DAYS, PRECIPITATION HAS RANGED FROM 100 TO 130 PERCENT OF NORMAL 

ACROSS NORTHWEST MAINE, AND FROM 70 TO 90 PERCENT OF NORMAL 

ELSEWHERE. DUE TO THE NATURE OF PRECIPITATION THERE ARE SOME LOCAL

SPOTS THAT HAVE OBSERVED EITHER MORE OR LESS PRECIPITATION THAN 

NOTED ABOVE. 

SUMMARY OF IMPACTS... 

AVERAGE 7 AND 14 DAY STREAMFLOWS ARE NOW ABOVE AVERAGE ACROSS

NORTHERN AREAS AND 40 TO 80 PERCENT OF NORMAL DOWNEAST. MAJOR

RIVERS HAVE SEEN SIGNIFICANT RISES AND FLOW HAS INCREASED

DRAMATICALLY, AND IS NOW RUNNING FROM 300 TO 400 PERCENT OF 

NORMAL FLOW FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR IN THE NORTH AND 100 TO 250 

PERCENT OF NORMAL FLOW IN THE SOUTH. THIS HAS BEEN A RAPID AND 

DRAMATIC CHANGE AFTER RECORD LOW FLOWS WERE OBSERVED AS RECENTLY 

AS JUST A FEW WEEKS AGO.

CROPS DID SUFFER LOSSES THIS YEAR, BUT NOW THAT THE HARVEST IS

EITHER COMPLETE OR NEARLY COMPLETE THERE SHOULD NOT BE ANY

SIGNIFICANT AGRICULTURAL IMPACTS. WATER LEVELS HAVE INCREASED

SIGNIFICANTLY AND THIS SHOULD HELP TO MITIGATE ANY EARLIER IMPACTS

DUE TO LOW WATER LEVELS. 

CLIMATE SUMMARY...6.61" OF RAIN HAS BEEN OBSERVED IN CARIBOU THIS

MONTH AS OF OCTOBER 22ND, WHICH MAKES IT THE 3RD WETTEST OCTOBER

ON RECORD SINCE 1939. MORE RAIN HAS BEEN OBSERVED THIS OCTOBER

THAN DURING THE 3 MONTH PERIOD FROM JUNE THROUGH AUGUST. 3.98" OF

RAIN HAS BEEN OBSERVED IN BANGOR, WHICH IS MORE THAN AN INCH ABOVE

AVERAGE.   

PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK...

TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO BE A BIT ABOVE AVERAGE THROUGH

SATURDAY, AND BELOW AVERAGE SUNDAY THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF NEXT 

WEEK. THERE WILL BE ADDITIONAL CHANCES OF RAIN (AND WET SNOW) 

DURING THE NEXT WEEK.

HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK...AVERAGE SEVEN DAY STREAM FLOW 

HAS IMPROVED TO ABOVE NORMAL ACROSS THE REGION. STREAM FLOW IS 

EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TO REMAIN NEAR TO ABOVE NORMAL DURING THE 

NEXT WEEK DUE TO EXPECTED RAINFALL. RIVER LEVELS HAVE IMPROVED 

SIGNIFICANTLY DURING THE PAST WEEK ARE NOW ABOVE NORMAL AND WILL 

CONTINUE TO REMAIN NEAR TO ABOVE NORMAL FOR THE NEXT WEEK.

NEXT ISSUANCE DATE...

THIS PRODUCT WILL BE UPDATED ON OCTOBER 29TH OR SOONER IF 

NECESSARY IN RESPONSE TO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN CONDITIONS.

&&

RELATED WEB SITES...

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON CURRENT DROUGHT CONDITIONS MAY BE FOUND

AT THE FOLLOWING WEB ADDRESSES...

US DROUGHT MONITOR...HTTP://WWW.DROUGHT.UNL.EDU/DM/MONITOR.HTML

NOAA DROUGHT PAGE...HTTP://WWW.DROUGHT.NOAA.GOV

CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER (CPC)...HTTP://WWW.CPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV

US DROUGHT MONITOR...HTTP://WWW.DROUGHTMONITOR.UNL.EDU

CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER...HTTP://WWW.CPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV

NORTHEAST REGIONAL CLIMATE CENTER...HTTP://WWW.NRCC.CORNELL.EDU

ADDITIONAL RIVER INFORMATION...

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE...HTTP://WATER.WEATHER.GOV

US GEOLOGICAL SURVEY...HTTP://WATER.USGS.GOV

US ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS...HTTP://WWW.USACE.ARMY.MIL

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...

THE DROUGHT MONITOR IS A MULTI-AGENCY EFFORT INVOLVING THE

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AND NATIONAL CENTERS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL

INFORMATION...THE USDA...STATE AND REGIONAL CENTER CLIMATOLOGISTS

AND THE NATIONAL DROUGHT MITIGATION CENTER. INFORMATION FOR THIS

STATEMENT HAS BEEN GATHERED FROM NWS AND FAA OBSERVATION SITES...

STATE COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICES...THE USDA...USACE AND USGS.

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS...

IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ABOUT THIS DROUGHT INFORMATION

STATEMENT...PLEASE CONTACT...

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE

810 MAIN ST

CARIBOU ME 04736

PHONE...207-492-0180

CARWEBMASTER@NOAA.GOV

$$