028 AXUS71 KBOX 081438 DGTBOX CTC003-013-015-MAC001-005-007-009-011-013-015-017-019-021-023-025- 027-NHC005-011-RIC001-003-005-007-009-221445- DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA 1038 AM EDT FRI JUN 8 2012 ...U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR INDICATES CONTINUED IMPROVEMENT OF CONDITIONS ACROSS SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND... SYNOPSIS... THIS IS THE THIRD DROUGHT STATEMENT TO BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON MA IN 2012. THESE STATEMENTS PERTAIN TO HYDROLOGIC CONDITIONS IN SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND...INCLUDING SOUTHWEST NEW HAMPSHIRE...ALL OF MASSACHUSETTS EXCEPT FOR BERKSHIRE COUNTY...ALL OF RHODE ISLAND...AND NORTHERN CONNECTICUT. UNLESS CONDITIONS DETERIORATE SUBSTANTIALLY...THIS WILL BE THE FINAL DROUGHT STATEMENT FROM NWS TAUNTON FOR MID 2012. THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR INDICATES THAT RECENT RAINS HAVE CONTINUED TO IMPROVE CONDITIONS ACROSS SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND. MUCH OF THE REGION HAS IMPROVED TO NORMAL CONDITIONS ON THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR...WITH ABNORMALLY DRY CONDITIONS LINGERING OVER A PORTION OF CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS AND MOST OF CONNECTICUT. THE DROUGHT CONDITIONS EARLIER THIS YEAR WERE LARGELY DRIVEN BY A SHARP RAINFALL DEFICIT...WHICH WAS GENERATED DURING JANUARY THROUGH EARLY APRIL 2012. SINCE LATE APRIL...RECURRING SOAKING RAINS HAVE BROUGHT NORMAL TO ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION. AS OF EARLY JUNE...THERE HAD BEEN NO STATE DROUGHT DECLARATIONS IN SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND. SUMMARY OF IMPACTS... LINGERING IMPACTS INCLUDED GROUND WATER CONDITIONS AS WELL AS A YEAR TO DATE RAINFALL DEFICIT. RAINFALL DEFICITS ARE OUTLINED IN THE CLIMATE SUMMARY. FOR GROUND WATER...ACROSS MASSACHUSETTS...RHODE ISLAND AND SOUTHWEST NEW HAMPSHIRE...THE MAJORITY OF GROUND WATER WELLS MONITORED BY THE UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WERE WITHIN NORMAL LEVELS. HOWEVER...SCATTERED GROUND WATER WELLS DID INDICATE BELOW NORMAL LEVELS. IN CONNECTICUT...GROUND WATER WAS PREDOMINATELY BELOW NORMAL...WITH SCATTERED WELLS INDICATING NORMAL CONDITIONS. ON AND OFF RAINS FROM LATE APRIL THROUGH EARLY JUNE HAVE BOOSTED RIVER LEVELS INTO THE NORMAL RANGE. AS OF JUNE 8...RIVER LEVELS AT GAGED LOCATIONS ACROSS THE REGION WERE AT NORMAL TO ABOVE NORMAL LEVELS. SOIL MOISTURE HAD ALSO IMPROVED TO NEAR NORMAL. AS OF MAY...THE MAJORITY OF RESERVOIRS IN SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND WERE AT NORMAL LEVELS FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. CLIMATE SUMMARY... THE YEAR TO DATE RAINFALL DEFICIT WAS STILL 3 TO 6 INCHES BELOW NORMAL ACROSS MOST OF THE REGION...WITH DEFICITS SOMEWHAT ABOVE 6 INCHES OVER PARTS OF EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS AS WELL AS PORTIONS OF CONNECTICUT. SOME EXAMPLES FROM MAJOR CLIMATE SITES FOLLOW. LOCATION RAINFALL FOR THE YEAR YEAR TO DATE DEPARTURE THROUGH JUNE 7 FROM NORMAL WORCESTER 16.63 -3.69 BOSTON 12.84 -6.33 HARTFORD 14.30 -4.72 PROVIDENCE 16.24 -4.83 FROM JANUARY 1 THROUGH APRIL 15...PRECIPITATION HAD BEEN AROUND OR LESS THAN 50 PERCENT OF NORMAL FOR MUCH OF SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND. HOWEVER DURING LATE APRIL THROUGH EARLY JUNE...THE SITUATION HAD IMPROVED. PRECIPITATION OVER THE PAST 60 DAYS HAS RANGED FROM 8 TO 10 INCHES...WITH HIGHER TOTALS OF 10 TO 12 INCHES IN NORTHWEST MASSACHUSETTS AND SOUTHWEST NEW HAMPSHIRE. THE PRECIPITATION FOR THIS TIMEFRAME WAS GENERALLY CLOSE TO NORMAL...EXCEPT WELL ABOVE NORMAL IN THE NORTHWEST. PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK... FROM JUNE 8 TO JUNE 14...UNSETTLED WEATHER IS EXPECTED LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING AS A COLD FRONT MOVES SOUTH FROM EASTERN CANADA. THIS FRONT IS EXPECTED TO STALL ALONG OR JUST SOUTH OF THE SOUTH COAST OF NEW ENGLAND LATE TONIGHT. AS A RESULT...SHOWERS AND SOME THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED. LOW PRESSURE WILL BRING A CHANCE OF SHOWERS SATURDAY INTO EARLY SUNDAY. HIGH PRESSURE WILL THEN BUILD IN WITH DRY WEATHER AND MILD TEMPERATURES FOR THE START OF NEXT WEEK. A COLD FRONT MAY BRING ADDITIONAL SHOWERS NEXT WEDNESDAY OR THURSDAY. OVERALL THROUGH THE PERIOD...PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR OR BELOW NORMAL EXCEPT WHERE THUNDERSTORMS BRING HEAVY RAINS. TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO AVERAGE ABOVE NORMAL. THE 8 TO 14 DAY OUTLOOK FROM THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER FOR JUNE 15 TO 22...ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND NEAR NORMAL PRECIPITATION ARE EXPECTED. HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK... AS OF JUNE 8...RIVERS AND STREAMS WERE RUNNING NEAR NORMAL TO ABOVE NORMAL FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. GROUNDWATER VARIED FROM NORMAL TO BELOW NORMAL. NORMAL TO ABOVE NORMAL RAINS SINCE LATE APRIL HAVE IMPROVED HYDROLOGIC CONDITIONS ACROSS THE AREA. IF A LACK OF SIGNIFICANT RAIN WERE TO REMATERIALIZE FOR A PROLONGED PERIOD OF TIME...RENEWED DETERIORATION COULD OCCUR IN THE FORM OF LOWERING OF SOIL MOISTURE...LOWERING OF RIVER AND STREAM LEVELS...AND DECREASING GROUND WATER LEVELS. HOWEVER...RECENT ABUNDANT RAINS HAVE PROMPTED A SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT. AS OF MAY...THE MAJORITY OF RESERVOIRS WERE AT NORMAL LEVELS ACROSS SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND. HOWEVER RESIDENTS SHOULD CONTINUE TO HEED THE ADVICE OF STATE AND LOCAL OFFICIALS WITH RESPECT TO ANY ROUTINE OR NON ROUTINE WATER RESTRICTIONS. NEXT ISSUANCE DATE... UNLESS A SUBSTANTIAL DETERIORATION REDEVELOPS ACROSS THE AREA...THIS WILL BE THE LAST DROUGHT STATEMENT FOR THIS EVENT. && RELATED WEB SITES... ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON CURRENT CONDITIONS MAY BE FOUND AT THE FOLLOWING WEB ADDRESSES /USE LOWER CASE LETTERS/... U.S. DROUGHT PORTAL INCLUDING ACCESS TO THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR... HTTP://WWW.DROUGHT.GOV NORTHEAST REGIONAL CLIMATE CENTER...HTTP://WWW.NRCC.CORNELL.EDU UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY...HTTP://WATER.USGS.GOV CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER /CPC/...HTTP://WWW.CPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV MA DCR MONTHLY PRECIPITATION AND WATER CONDITIONS... HTTP://WWW.MASS.GOV/DCR/WATERSUPPLY/RAINFALL/INDEX.HTM RHODE ISLAND WATER RESOURCES BOARD...HTTP://WWW.WRB.STATE.RI.US CONNECTICUT WATER STATUS...HTTP://WWW.CT.GOV/WATERSTATUS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS... INFORMATION FOR THIS STATEMENT HAS BEEN GATHERED FROM MANY SOURCES...INCLUDING THE CONNECTICUT DROUGHT INTERAGENCY WORKGROUP...RHODE ISLAND DROUGHT STEERING COMMITTEE...AND MASSACHUSETTS DROUGHT MANAGEMENT TASK FORCE. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION WAS PROVIDED BY THE UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY...NORTHEAST REGIONAL CLIMATE CENTER...NWS AND FAA OBSERVATION SITES...AND THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR. THE DROUGHT MONITOR IS A MULTI-AGENCY EFFORT INVOLVING NOAA/S NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AND NATIONAL CLIMATIC DATA CENTER...THE USDA...STATE AND REGIONAL CENTER CLIMATOLOGISTS AND THE NATIONAL DROUGHT MITIGATION CENTER. QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS... IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ABOUT THIS DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT...PLEASE CONTACT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE 445 MYLES STANDISH BLVD TAUNTON MA 02780 PHONE...508-823-1900 BOX.WEBMASTER@NOAA.GOV $$ NMB