Drought Information Statement For Northern & Eastern Maine 08/12/2021

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AXUS71 KCAR 122040

DGTCAR

MEC003-009-019-021-025-029-192045-

DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CARIBOU ME

440 PM EDT THU AUG 12 2021

.SYNOPSIS AND DROUGHT INTENSITY...

DROUGHT CONDITIONS HAVE REMAINED LITTLE CHANGED IN THE PAST WEEK

ACROSS NORTHERN AND EASTERN MAINE. THE ONLY CHANGE OF NOTE WAS

SLIGHT IMPROVEMENT ACROSS A SMALL PORTION OF SOUTHEAST PISCATAQUIS

COUNTY WHICH WAS IN MODERATE DROUGHT (D1) AND IS NOW LISTED AS 

ABNORMALLY DRY. FOR THE LATEST MAP THAT DEPICTS THE DROUGHT 

CONDITIONS ACROSS MAINE, PLEASE VISIT THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR AT

WWW.DROUGHTMONITOR.UNL.EDU

DURING THE PAST 14 DAYS PRECIPITATION HAS RANGED FROM 100 TO 200

PERCENT OF NORMAL DOWNEAST, AND FROM 50 TO 90 PERCENT ACROSS THE 

REMAINDER OF THE REGION, EXCEPT ACROSS NORTHWEST AROOSTOOK COUNTY

WHERE AMOUNTS HAVE ONLY BEEN ABOUT 25 PERCENT OF NORMAL. 

.PRECIPITATION...

PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH OF JULY RANGED FROM 150 TO 300 

PERCENT OF NORMAL DOWNEAST, NEAR NORMAL ACROSS MOST OF CENTRAL 

MAINE, AND FROM 25 TO 75 PERCENT OF NORMAL ACROSS FAR NORTHERN 

MAINE TO THE NORTH OF THE KATAHDIN REGION. 

DURING THE PAST 60 DAYS, PRECIPITATION HAS RANGED FROM 110 TO 150

PERCENT OF NORMAL DOWNEAST, AND FROM 40 TO 75 PERCENT OF NORMAL

ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF NORTHERN AND EASTERN MAINE. 

.HYDROLOGIC CONDITIONS...

RIVER FLOWS: REMAIN WELL BELOW TO BELOW AVERAGE FOR THIS TIME OF 

YEAR ACROSS THE REGION. THE GREATEST DEPARTURES FROM NORMAL ARE

ON THE PISCATAQUIS RIVER WITH FLOW OF ONLY 6 TO 22 PERCENT OF 

NORMAL. CONDITIONS DETERIORATED IN THE PAST WEEK ON THE SAINT JOHN

RIVER WITH VALUES RUNNING FROM 23 TO 27 PERCENT OF NORMAL. 

ELSEWHERE, VALUES RANGED FROM 22 TO 49 PERCENT OF NORMAL ON THE 

AROOSTOOK, ALLAGASH, AND PENOBSCOT RIVERS. 

SEVEN TO 14 DAY STREAMFLOWS VARY SIGNIFICANTLY ACROSS THE REGION.

THEY ARE NEAR NORMAL ACROSS MOST OF HANCOCK AND WASHINGTON

COUNTIES AND ACROSS SOUTHEAST AROOSTOOK COUNTY. ACROSS THE

REMAINDER OF THE REGION THEY ARE WELL BELOW TO BELOW AVERAGE, AND

IN THE FISH RIVER BASIN ARE EXTREMELY LOW.

THE MOST RECENT 7 DAY STREAMFLOWS (AS OF AUGUST 11TH) ARE IN THE 

25TH TO 75TH PERCENTILE (NORMAL) ACROSS MOST OF WASHINGTON AND 

HANCOCK COUNTIES AS WELL AS ACROSS SOUTHEAST AROOSTOOK COUNTY. 

THEY ARE IN THE 10TH TO 24TH PERCENTILE (MUCH BELOW TO BELOW 

NORMAL) ACROSS MOST OF THE REMAINDER OF THE REGION. THERE IS A 

SMALL AREA IN NORTHERN AROOSTOOK COUNTY IN THE FISH RIVER BASIN 

THAT IS EXTREMELY LOW.

GROUNDWATER AND WATER STORAGE (LAKES/RESERVOIRS): A LONG-TERM 

IMPACT OF THE DROUGHT IS LOWER GROUNDWATER LEVELS. GROUNDWATER 

LEVELS ARE VERY SLOW TO RESPOND, AND ALSO CAN BE VERY SLOW TO 

RECOVER. MOST LAKES AND RESERVOIRS ACROSS THE REGION ARE RUNNING 

BELOW SEASONAL NORMAL VALUES ACROSS THE REGION, ESPECIALLY ACROSS

CENTRAL AND NORTHERN AREAS WHERE RAINFALL DEFICITS ARE GREATEST. 

GROUNDWATER CONDITIONS ARE CURRENTLY WELL BELOW NORMAL ACROSS

NORTHERN MAINE AND CLOSER TO NORMAL ACROSS EASTERN MAINE. 

.SUMMARY OF IMPACTS...

WATER RESOURCES: NONE AT THIS TIME. THERE HAVE BEEN SOME REPORTS

OF PRIVATE WELLS THAT HAVE RUN DRY IN AROOSTOOK AND PENOBSCOT

COUNTIES, BUT THE LOCATION OF THESE WELLS IS UNKNOWN. WE ARE NOT 

AWARE OF ANY COMMUNITY WATER RESTRICTIONS IN OUR REGION AT THIS 

TIME.

WILDFIRE CONDITIONS: THE MAINE FOREST SERVICE HAS REPORTED 

THAT WILDFIRE ACTIVITY IS NEAR NORMAL FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR

AFTER AN ACTIVE START TO THE FIRE WEATHER SEASON THIS SPRING. THE

RAINY CONDITIONS HAPPENING ON WEEKENDS WAS A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR 

AS THAT IS WHEN MOST WILDFIRES OCCUR. 

AGRICULTURAL CONDITIONS: GIVEN THE EXPANSION OF MODERATE DROUGHT 

CONDITIONS ACROSS THE AGRICULTURAL AREAS OF THE SAINT JOHN VALLEY

SOME IRRIGATION OF CROPS HAS BEEN REQUIRED. THERE HAS NOT BEEN AS

MUCH STRESS ON POTATO AND OTHER LOCAL CROPS SUCH AS BROCCOLI 

COMPARED TO THIS TIME LAST YEAR.

.DROUGHT MITIGATION ACTIONS...

THE STATE OF MAINE HAS ACTIVATED ITS DROUGHT TASK FORCE. HYDRO 

OPERATORS ARE MONITORING CONDITIONS AND BALANCING NEEDS OF LAKE 

LEVELS, HYDROELECTRIC POWER GENERATION NEEDS, AND DISCHARGES TO 

MAINTAIN STREAM FLOW AND RECREATION NEEDS DOWNSTREAM. 

IN RESPONSE TO ESCALATED DROUGHT, THE MAINE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

AGENCY HAS PUBLISHED AN ONLINE SURVEY FOR HOME OWNERS TO REPORT 

PRIVATE WELLS RUNNING DRY AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR ASSISTANCE:

HTTPS://MAINE-DRY-WELL-SURVEY-MAINE.HUB.ARCGIS.COM/.

.PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE AND HYDROLOGIC OUTLOOKS...

CPC'S OUTLOOK FROM DAYS 6 TO 14 (AUG 18-26) STRONGLY FAVORS ABOVE

AVERAGE TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE REGION. THE PRECIPITATION OUTLOOK

CALLS FOR AN INCREASED LIKELIHOOD OF BELOW AVERAGE PRECIPITATION 

FOR DAYS 6-10 AND FOR DAYS 8-14. THE ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES 

WILL LIKELY CAUSE MORE EVAPORATION AND THE POTENTIAL THAT DROUGHT

CONDITIONS COULD DETERIORATE DURING THE NEXT ONE TO TWO WEEKS. 

.NEXT ISSUANCE DATE...

THIS PRODUCT WILL BE UPDATED BY THE EVENING OF AUGUST 19TH AFTER 

THE RELEASE OF THE UPDATED U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR THAT DAY. 

&&

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

$$

CB