Nearly entire Monadnock Region experiencing moderate drought

Jul. 8—Most of New Hampshire, including nearly the entire Monadnock Region, is now in a moderate drought, a federal report issued Thursday shows.

All but a northwestern sliver of Cheshire County is experiencing the drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor's weekly report, which includes data between June 28 and July 5. All of Hillsborough County is in a moderate drought, as well, along with the southeast corner of Sullivan County.

The drought extends across southern and central New Hampshire, while the western edge of the state is experiencing "abnormally dry" conditions, one step below a moderate drought, according to the Drought Monitor. The project is a joint venture of the National Drought Mitigation Center, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The far northwestern tip of Coos County is the only part of the state not seeing dry conditions.

Brad Pugh, a meteorologist with NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, said moderate droughts — the lowest-intensity of the drought monitor's four levels — are defined by precipitation deficits, soil moisture and streamflows between the 11th and 20th percentiles.

"New Hampshire ended up with moderate drought due to a lack of precipitation during the past 30 to 60 days," Pugh, the author of this week's Drought Monitor report, said in an email Thursday.

Jon Palmer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine, said essentially all of New England has had a dry spring. Manchester recorded 2.67 inches of precipitation last month, which is 1.05 inches below an average June, Palmer said. (Concord was closer to average, with 3.24 inches of rain, 0.1 inch lower than average.)

"The past couple of years have been on the drier side in general in our entire forecast area," Palmer said in an interview Thursday. "In our area we typically have a pretty wet spring, and this year that didn't really happen. And you've probably noticed that this year we haven't had a lot of severe weather. ... And I think we're seeing the consequences of that."

Moderate droughts can cause some damage to crops and pastures, along with lower-than-normal streams, Pugh said. These conditions are likely to continue, and perhaps grow more severe, he added.

"Below-normal precipitation is likely during the next two weeks so drought conditions are expected to persist or worsen through mid-July," Pugh said. "The Climate Prediction Center's seasonal outlook for July-August-September slightly favors above-normal precipitation across southern New Hampshire so relief may occur by this fall."

Jack Rooney can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1404, or jrooney@keenesentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter

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