It’s always an interesting topic to write about — when is it going to rain next? I imagine if you surveyed 10 people, you’d probably get seven or eight of them saying that any lack of rain is perfect and they don’t really think about the fact that it’s been dry. The other 20 percent probably notice burned-out lawns and drooping plants and would like to see a little bit of rain.
Well, we did see quite a bit of much-needed rain this past weekend. Some areas of Massachusetts were hit with upwards of 2 to 3 inches of precipitation. Where I live, we received 1.6 inches Saturday and Sunday, and I was very happy about that. That’s really going to be a big help with the expanding drought, especially with the relatively cool temperatures and the lower sun angle. The moisture is not going to evaporate nearly as quickly as it would have just four weeks ago, so it’s good news.
But more days of good soaking rains would turn the tide here.
For Boston and most of Southern New England, where there’s actually very little official drought compared to other parts of New England, the weekend rain will ensure that it doesn’t expand much into the region. Most of Massachusetts is actually either abnormally dry or close to normal in terms of drought status. The exception is Cape Cod, where the recent deluge of rain unfortunately hasn’t been enough to pull the peninsula out of its drought.
The percentage of normal precipitation across New England, with 100 percent being the average. This past weekend’s heavy rains have helped some areas, but others remain exceptionally dry.Boston Globe
In Northern New England, the drought is more significant, with “severe drought” now affecting New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont, according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor. The weekend rain has helped, but you really need more days of substantial rainfall to alleviate the excessively dry conditions there.
The latest drought monitor shows extensive drought plaguing Northern New England.Boston Globe
If you think back to our wet spring, we had weekend after weekend with rainfall, and even if it wasn’t a lot, it was still certainly damp. The summer months provided nearly the opposite weather. Most weekends have been dry, until this past weekend. A persistent area of high pressure at all levels of the atmosphere had been keeping any organized rainfall at bay. While there have been some scattered showers and even downpours over the past couple of months, it’s been basically dry.
This week’s dry pattern will generally continue for the next few days as high pressure limits rainfall potential. If we did get any rain, it will be sparse should any shower activity get near New England. Keep in mind, even in areas where drought is almost nonexistent, you still need to water if you’re moving or starting any new plants in the ground, since the topsoil is abnormally dry.
Long-range rainfall prospects
One way in which we could see more significant rainfall is from a tropical system: As the high-pressure systems pass offshore, a tropical system moves northward. In this case, the southerly flow on the left side of high pressure could pull in some moisture out of the tropics, changing the equation from our dry weather. However, the timing on these types of systems has to be perfect, otherwise the tropical storms end up going out to sea.
New England can expect rainfall to be less than average later this month.Boston Globe
Fall may end up with about average precipitation across New England.Boston Globe
If more heavy rains don’t materialize, the drought, which is worsening across parts of Northern New England, could expand, eventually enveloping more of Southern New England.
Of course, the bonus of having dry weather is that as kids are back in school and football, soccer, track meets, and other outdoor events are underway, the weather is completely cooperating.