Drought Information Statement For Northern & Eastern Maine 09/30/2021

000

AXUS71 KCAR 302118

DGTCAR

MEC003-009-019-021-025-029-072130-

DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CARIBOU ME

518 PM EDT THU SEP 30 2021

.SYNOPSIS AND DROUGHT INTENSITY...

DROUGHT CONDITIONS HAVE IMPROVED SIGNIFICANTLY DURING THE PAST 

WEEK ACROSS MOST OF NORTHERN AND EASTERN MAINE. THIS WAS DUE TO 

BACK-TO-BACK RAINFALL EVENTS DURING THE WEEKEND OF SEPTEMBER 

25TH-26TH THAT PRODUCED WIDESPREAD RAINFALL OF 1 TO 3 INCHES 

ACROSS THE REGION WITH LOCAL AMOUNTS IN EXCESS OF 4 INCHES. 

THE ONLY AREAS WHERE MODERATE DROUGHT (D1) REMAIN ARE ACROSS 

NORTHERN SOMERSET COUNTY, A SMALL PORTION OF NORTHWEST 

PISCATAQUIS COUNTY, AND A VERY SMALL PORTION OF WESTERN AROOSTOOK 

COUNTY. 

PLEASE VISIT THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR AT WWW.DROUGHTMONITOR.UNL.EDU

FOR A VISUAL DEPICTION OF THE DROUGHT CONDITIONS ACROSS THE 

STATE. 

DURING THE PAST 14 DAYS (SEPTEMBER 15-28) PRECIPITATION HAS BEEN

WELL ABOVE NORMAL ACROSS MOST OF THE REGION AND HAS RANGED FROM 

150 TO 300 PERCENT OF NORMAL. THE ONLY EXCEPTIONS WERE A SMALL 

AREA ALONG THE WASHINGTON AND HANCOCK COUNTY BORDER WHERE 

PRECIPITATION RANGED FROM 90 TO 130 PERCENT OF NORMAL, AND ACROSS 

NORTHERN SOMERSET COUNTY WHERE PRECIPITATION RANGED FROM 100 TO 

130 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. 

PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST RANGED FROM 100 TO 130 

PERCENT OF NORMAL ALONG THE DOWNEAST COAST AS WELL AS ACROSS 

SOUTHEAST AROOSTOOK COUNTY. ELSEWHERE, PRECIPITATION WAS BELOW 

AVERAGE AND RANGED FROM 30 TO 70 PERCENT OF NORMAL. AGAIN, DUE TO

THE NATURE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS, SOME LOCAL BASINS 

RECEIVED MORE OR LESS PRECIPITATION THAN DESCRIBED ABOVE. 

DURING THE PAST 90 DAYS, PRECIPITATION HAS RANGED FROM 150 TO 200

PERCENT OF NORMAL DOWNEAST AND INTO NORTHERN WASHINGTON COUNTY, 

AND FROM 50 TO 90 PERCENT ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF NORTHERN MAINE. 

THERE IS A SMALL AREA IN BETWEEN WITH NEAR NORMAL PRECIPITATION 

THAT EXTENDS FROM SOUTHERN PISCATQUIS COUNTY NORTHEAST TO NEAR 

PRESQUE ISLE IN AROOSTOOK COUNTY. 

.HYDROLOGIC CONDITIONS...

RIVER FLOWS: HAVE IMPROVED SIGNIFICANTLY OVER THE PAST WEEK. 

FLOWS RANGE FROM 73 TO 92 PERCENT OF NORMAL ON THE SAINT JOHN 

RIVER, 337 TO 342 PERCENT OF NORMAL ON THE AROOSTOOK RIVER, AND 

278 TO 296 ON THE PENOBSCOT RIVER. ON THE PISCATAQUIS RIVER FLOWS

RANGE FROM 147 TO 299 PERCENT OF NORMAL. THE MATTAWAMKEAG AT

MATTAWAMKEAG IS AT AN AMAZING 1216 PERCENT OF NORMAL FOR SEPTEMBER

30TH.

SEVEN TO 14 DAY STREAMFLOWS HAVE IMPROVED SIGNIFICANTLY OVER THE

PAST WEEK AND ARE NOW NORMAL ACROSS MUCH OF THE CROWN OF MAINE, 

AND ABOVE TO WELL ABOVE AVERAGE ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF NORTHERN 

AND EASTERN MAINE.

EVAPORATION AT CARIBOU SO FAR THIS SEPTEMBER (THROUGH SEPTEMBER 

29TH) HAS BEEN 2.28", WHILE 6.13" OF RAIN HAS BEEN OBSERVED. SOIL 

MOISTURE LEVELS SHOWED SOME IMPROVEMENT ACROSS THE REGION WHEN 

VIEWED OVER THE LAST 7 DAYS, AND DURING THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER. 

THE EVAPORATIVE STRESS HAS DROPPED SIGNIFICANTLY SINCE AUGUST WITH

COOLER AND MORE SEASONABLE TEMPERATURES RETURNING.

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. SOME WELLS HAVE SHOWN APPARENT IMPROVEMENT, WHICH IS DUE

TO THE FACT THAT SEPTEMBER TYPICALLY HAS LOWER GROUNDWATER LEVELS

CONDITIONS THAN AUGUST. THIS IMPROVEMENT IN DROUGHT IMPACTED 

AREAS IS NOT DUE TO RECHARGE, WHICH HAS BEEN SLOW TO RESPOND TO 

RECENT RAIN. MONITORING WELLS IN MAINE SHOW NORMAL CONDITIONS 

ALONG THE I-95 CORRIDOR INTO EASTERN MAINE, WITH WELLS WEST OF 

I-95 AS WELL AS ACROSS FAR NORTHERN MAINE SHOWING BELOW NORMAL 

CONDITIONS. 

.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 612

WILDFIRES IN MAINE THIS YEAR AS OF SEPTEMBER 9TH, BUT ONLY 10 OF

THOSE FIRES HAVE BEEN OBSERVED DURING THE PAST TWO WEEKS. RECENT

RAINS HAVE RAISED OUR FUEL MOISTURE WHICH HAS MITIGATED THE FIRE

DANGER ACROSS NORTHERN AND EASTERN MAINE. 

AGRICULTURAL CONDITIONS: GIVEN THE RECENT RAINS, PRODUCERS ARE

REPORTING EXCELLENT CROP GROWTH AND QUALITY IN AREAS WHERE

DROUGHT CONDITIONS HAVE DIMINISHED. MOST CROPS HAVE BEEN 

HARVESTED AT THIS POINT, AND THE AGRICULTURAL DEMAND FOR WATER 

HAS GREATLY BEEN REDUCED. 

.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...

THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTERS OUTLOOK FROM DAYS 6 TO 10 (OCT 

6-10) FAVORS ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE REGION. THE 

PRECIPITATION OUTLOOK CALLS FOR INCREASED CHANCES OF BELOW 

AVERAGE PRECIPITATION. THE DAYS 8-14 (OCT 8-OCT 14) OUTLOOK CALLS

FOR AN INCREASED CHANCE OF ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES. THE ODDS 

ARE SLIGHTLY TILTED TOWARD BELOW AVERAGE PRECIPITATION. 

IT IS LIKELY THAT THERE WILL NOT BE ANY SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO 

THE AREAS THAT ARE STILL IN MODERATE DROUGHT DURING THE NEXT 

WEEK. STREAMS AND RIVERS WILL LIKELY SEE A GRADUAL FALL DURING THE

NEXT WEEK. 

.NEXT ISSUANCE DATE...

THIS PRODUCT WILL BE UPDATED BY OCTOBER 7, 2021. 

&&

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