Drought — Lincoln, Maine

2022-08-01 to 2022-08-31 · Lincoln, Maine

Event narrative

On the August 2nd drought monitor, Lincoln County was 100% in severe drought. By the end of the month, 58% of the county was in severe drought and 42% in moderate drought. The improved designations were the result of scattered heavy rainfall with most areas receiving between 2.5 and 3.5 inches of rain.

The state of Maine activated its Drought Task Force in July 2022. Several towns instituted voluntary water restrictions. Hydro operators balanced needs of lake levels, hydroelectric power generation needs, and the discharges to maintain stream flow needs downstream. Most of the reported water quantity issues were from southern and coastal areas. Farmers without irrigation experienced stressed vegetation from a lack of rain and above normal temperatures in July. First-cut hay crop was near normal, but subsequent hay growth was slowed. Most streamflow stations in central and southern rivers with 30+ years of record were between the 10th-25th percentiles compared to normal.

Wider weather episode

Drought conditions developed across Maine and New Hampshire in August 2022. According to the August 2nd, 2022 release of the United States Drought Monitor, 76% of the National Weather Service Weather (NWS) Forecast Office Gray Maine (WFO GYX) County Warning Area (CWA) experienced drought conditions. Roughly 76% of the area was under moderate drought conditions. Approximately 18% of the area was in severe drought focused along coastal Maine. By the August 30th drought monitor 38% of the area was experiencing drought. Roughly 15 percent was in severe drought, and 1 percent was experiencing extreme drought along the shared border with Massachusetts.

The drought was the result of a combination of factors. For portions of northern New Hampshire and western Maine, long term drought conditions defined by reduced groundwater and lake levels carried over from 2021. For most areas, winter failed to deliver the expected amount of snowfall with snowpacks well below normal by spring. Most areas received near normal precipitation in the course of the winter season, though in central and southern counties it frequently fell as rain due to warm temperatures. Overall, the seasonal snowpack was 1 to 3 feet below normal. If one combines the snowfall deficits from the winter 20-21 and 21-22, the departures are 4 to 7 feet below normal.

The spring thaw arrived approximately 2 to 4 weeks early, resulting in an earlier than normal discharge along area waterways. The rest of spring lacked the typical rain frequency resulting in below average precipitation for most are as in April and May. Rainfall deficits began in the spring across central and southern counties, however the drying of surface water accelerated in mid June when temperatures began to warm and water demands grew. Most of southern Maine and New Hampshire received one to two inches below normal rainfall in June. In July, below normal rainfall, from 50% to 75% of normal, were common across southern Maine though spotty storm activity led to wide distributions in these areas. Temperatures meanwhile soared, with southern areas 4-5F above normal. Subsequently, evaporation losses exceeded precipitation amounts resulting in a net loss in surface water.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1055172. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.