Drought in Northern Oxford, Maine

Here is a breakdown of the U.S. Drought Monitor across western Maine from the issuance on November 2, 2021. Severe drought (D2) conditions were expanded slightly to the northeast across Somerset county, now totaling 9% areal extent in far western Maine. The moderate drought (D1) was reduced slightly as areas were upgraded to severe, with 4% coverage. There was also a reintroduction of D0 to southern Androscoggin and portions of Cumberland Counties. Though 35.24% of the state was classified as abnormally dry or drought conditions by area, approximately only 5.6% of Maine's population resided in the impacted area.

A monitoring well in Oxford County reported record lows for the month of October based on historical data (20-40 years). Rainfall in October was well below normal for most of the drought

stricken areas with deficits of 1 to 2 inches. Meanwhile, a late storm system on the 30th brought some heavy rainfall over the coastal plains where rainfall surpluses of 1 to 4 inches were observed. Annual deficits continued to be around a foot below normal for the areas in drought, specifically northern Oxford and Franklin Counties, and central Somerset.

The drought classification of severe drought (D2) remained relatively unchanged in October for western Maine. Rainfall amounts were near to below normal for the month, with a dry period during the first two week. Above normal temperatures and below normal precipitation did lead to some minor expansion of D2 and D0 across the region. However, the transition to fall reduced stress on the system with less evaporative and vegetation water losses.