Drought expanded in Maine again in the last week of August, with about 1.2 million people are living in at least abnormally dry conditions.
It took about a month for the state to go from having almost no areas with drought to 87% of the state in at least abnormally dry conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Maine Climatologist Sean Birkel said the drought's severity is driven by a warming climate.
Short-term drought is fairly common in the Northeast, according to Birkel. But hotter weather is intensifying dry conditions, he said, pointing to a heat wave in mid-August that made the drought worse.
"In terms of this current drought, this is an example of very high heat days on top of dryness that happen to develop that exacerbate conditions," Birkel said.
Maine is expected to see more extreme precipitation as the climate warms. The state had its driest summer on record in 2020, followed by its wettest summer three years later.
More than 60% of the state is now in moderate drought, while a patch of severe drought is spreading along the Penobscot Bay and Down East coast.
