The U.S. Drought Monitor released on Thursday, September 17 showed drought and/or abnormally dry conditions continue to improve in the Mid-Atlantic and southern New England but deteriorate in northern New England. There were generally limited changes elsewhere in the region.

• Extreme drought was introduced in Maine.
• Severe and/or moderate drought was erased from parts of southeastern Massachusetts and east-central New Jersey but spread in Maine and northern New Hampshire.
• Abnormal dryness contracted in small sections of southern New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and central New Jersey but expanded in southern New Jersey.
• Seven-day streamflow was much below normal in places like Maine, New Hampshire, coastal New Jersey, and central Maryland.
• Groundwater levels were record low in several areas including southern Maryland, southern New Jersey, southeastern Massachusetts, and southern Maine.
• The short-term outlooks for September 22-30 predict near- or above-normal precipitation and near- or above-normal temperatures for most of the Northeast, conditions that could pause deterioration or potentially bring improvements to a few locations.

For more information, see the Northeast DEWS Dashboard (to see the full Northeast, click on the grayed-out Pennsylvania in the map in the top left) and the Northeast Drought Update. Submit drought impact reports via the Condition Monitoring Observer Reports (CMOR) page.