Northeast Drought Status

Drought Recovery Continues
An inch or more of precipitation fell on some coastal areas this week, helping boost both surface and groundwater water levels. This led to further improvement of drought and abnormally dry conditions from Maryland to Maine. For example, severe drought contracted in northern/eastern Maryland, southeastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and southeastern New York. Interior areas such as eastern West Virginia, central Pennsylvania, and western New York saw less precipitation and conditions were generally unchanged. As short-term improvement continues, notable precipitation deficits extend back multiple months at some locations in the Northeast, which can be seen in the NRCC’s monthly maps and on the Northeast DEWS Dashboard (click on Pennsylvania in the top left map to see the full Northeast region).

• Severe (D2) drought shrank in coverage in an area from eastern Maryland to southeastern New York.
• Moderate (D1) drought and abnormal dryness (D0) contracted in an area from Maryland to Maine.
• Delaware became free of drought for the first time since early September 2024.
• Seven-day average streamflow generally ranged from much below normal to much above normal.
• Record low groundwater levels were found in places such as central/southern Maryland, parts of New Jersey, western New York, and southern Maine.
• Reservoir levels in New Jersey continued to climb this week.
• The outlooks for April 22 to 30 call for near- or above-normal precipitation, which could lead to further improvement in areas that see sufficient amounts or at least pause deterioration.
• More precipitation will be needed to offset increasing evapotranspiration rates as we get further into spring.

The NRCC’s full weekly drought update can be found here.

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