Weather
Turn Off Your Hose: Worcester County Drought Gets Worse
The Worcester area is on the cusp of being in a "significant drought" due to much lower rainfall in the spring.
WORCESTER, MA — Most of Massachusetts is now in a significant drought due to lower rainfall in the spring months, prompting warnings about outdoor water use during the summer months.
Last week, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Affairs declared a level 1 "mild" drought in Worcester County. But close by, there's a level 2 "significant" drought in Middlesex, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Plymouth and Bristol counties.
State officials say the drought is due to lower rainfall over the past three months. In May, the greater Worcester area got about 2.42 inches of rainfall compared to the normal level of 3.56 inches, according to the National Weather Service. April saw 3.91 inches compared to the normal amount of 4.08 inches.
Central Massachusetts fared better in the spring than points farther east. The Boston area saw only 1.32 inches of rainfall in May compared to the normal level of 3.25 inches, and 2.32 inches in April compared to the normal amount of 3.63 inches, according to the weather service.
"As the commonwealth enters the growing season, it is incredibly important that outdoor watering should be limited, coupled with the planting of drought tolerant plants to further reduce the strain on local water systems," the Department of Energy and Environmental Affairs said in a bulletin on June 15.
In a level 1 drought, the state recommends residents limit outdoor watering to once per week between 9 a.m and 5 p.m. Some local communities, including Westborough, have already issued local warnings to residents and businesses to limit using sprinkler systems.
The drought conditions can also hit local residents in the wallet. If towns and cities can't sell water due to drought and use restrictions, water departments see less revenue — and that may mean higher water rate increases in the future to make up for deficits.
There is a chance the drought situation could improve over the summer.
The National Weather Service last week released a new set of long-range forecasts predicting trends over the next two weeks, month and three months. The Climate Prediction Center long range forecasts assign probabilities to temperature and precipitation.
In the short term over the next two weeks, rainfall will be about normal, while there's up to a 40 percent change of higher-than-usual temperatures. But the longest term three-month forecast shows both higher temperatures and higher rainfall probabilities.
