The U.S. Drought Monitor released on Thursday, October 1 showed drought and/or abnormally dry conditions improved in areas closer to the coast from Maryland to Massachusetts but deteriorated in some northern and interior areas of New York and northern New England this week. There were generally limited changes elsewhere in the region.

• New Jersey became free of drought for the first time since August 2025.
• Massachusetts, West Virginia, and Maryland reached their lowest coverage of drought since August or October 2025.
• Abnormal dryness expanded in Vermont and parts of western, central, and northern New York.
• Record-low seven-day streamflow was present in places like northern Maine and northern Vermont.
• Groundwater levels were record low in several areas including southern Maine, southeastern Massachusetts, central New York, and southern Maryland.
• The short-term outlooks for October 6-10 predict near-normal precipitation and below-normal temperatures for most of the Northeast, conditions that would be expected to pause deterioration.

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.