Drought Information Statement For Northern & Eastern Maine 09/17/2021

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AXUS71 KCAR 180618

DGTCAR

MEC003-009-019-021-025-029-250630-

DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CARIBOU ME

218 AM EDT SAT SEP 18 2021

.SYNOPSIS AND DROUGHT INTENSITY...

DROUGHT CONDITIONS HAVE IMPROVED DURING THE PAST TWO WEEKS ACROSS

PORTIONS OF NORTHERN AND EASTERN MAINE. 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 3-16) PRECIPITATION HAS BEEN 

ABOVE TO WELL ABOVE NORMAL ACROSS MOST OF THE REGION AND HAS 

RANGED FROM 150 TO 300 PERCENT OF NORMAL. THE ONLY EXCEPTIONS ARE 

ACROSS SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON COUNTY WHERE PRECIPITATION RANGED 

FROM 50 TO 100 PERCENT OF NORMAL, AND ACROSS NORTHERN SOMERSET 

COUNTY WHERE PRECIPITATION RANGED FROM 125 TO 150 PERCENT OF 

NORMAL. DUE TO THE NATURE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS, SOME LOCAL

BASINS RECEIVED MORE OR LESS PRECIPITATION THAN DESCRIBED ABOVE. 

.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 130 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 2 WEEKS. 

FLOWS RANGE FROM 161 TO 232 PERCENT OF NORMAL ON THE SAINT JOHN 

RIVER, 93 TO 116 PERCENT OF NORMAL ON THE AROOSTOOK RIVER, AND 115

TO 129 ON THE PENOBSCOT RIVER. ON THE PISCATAQUIS RIVER FLOWS

RANGE FROM 63 TO 77 PERCENT OF NORMAL. THE LOWEST FLOWS RELATIVE

TO NORMAL ARE CURRENTLY ON THE FISH RIVER AT FORT KENT AT 28

PERCENT OF NORMAL. 

SEVEN TO 14 DAY STREAMFLOWS HAVE IMPROVED SIGNIFICANTLY OVER THE

PAST 2 WEEKS AND ARE NOW RATED AS NORMAL TO MUCH ABOVE NORMAL 

ACROSS ALL OF NORTHERN AND EASTERN MAINE. 

EVAPORATION AT CARIBOU SO FAR THIS SEPTEMBER (THROUGH SEPTEMBER 

17TH) HAS BEEN 1.32", WHILE 3.74" OF RAIN HAS BEEN OBSERVED. 

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. MANY CROPS WILL BE HARVESTED DURING

THE NEXT 1 TO 2 WEEKS IN THE AGRICULTURAL AREAS OF AROOSTOOK 

COUNTY. 

.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 (SEP 

23-27) FAVORS ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE REGION. THE 

PRECIPITATION OUTLOOK CALLS FOR INCREASED CHANCES OF ABOVE

AVERAGE PRECIPITATION. THE DAYS 8-14 (SEP 25-OCT 1) CALLS FOR AN 

INCREASED CHANCE OF ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES. THE ODDS ARE 

SLIGHTLY TILTED TOWARD ABOVE AVERAGE PRECIPITATION.

.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