Statewide, this is the most widespread drought since 2022. However, by October of that year, drought conditions were beginning to improve. This year, drought conditions have gradually worsened over time, in fact since August. The combination of dry conditions, freshly fallen leaves and gusty winds created dangerous conditions for wildfires.

Dave Celino, wildfire manager for the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, said, “We have the three prongs of the wildfire triangle: weather, fuel and topography.” According to Celino, rapid changes in temperature worsen working conditions for firefighters.

Since October 1, there have been 185 wildfires in Massachusetts that have consumed at least 600 acres, including the Cain Hill Fire in Salem that has spread to approximately 135 acres and the Middleton Pond Fire (166 acres).

The National Weather Service team works daily with state officials in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island to determine whether weather conditions warrant issuing a red flag, such as the one issued last Sunday for southern New York. -England. Red flag warnings are issued when the risk of fire is high due to hot temperatures, low humidity levels and strong winds. It is important to understand that even without warning, conditions are ripe for fires.

“If the ground is dry, low relative humidity is less important in fire behavior, the damage is already done,” Loconto said.

Introducing a breeze into the equation will significantly increase the risk of wildfires. Embers from garden fire pits or the spark from a cigarette could cause bushfires to get out of control in one case.

Additional personnel were mobilized to fight the fires. In addition to local fire departments, crews from DCR, the Department of Fire Services (DFS), and the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) helped contain the wildfires. Celino said the Massachusetts National Guard recently provided air support during the large wildfires near Salem and Middleton.

Their Black Hawk helicopters dropped more than 25,000 gallons of water on the Salem Fire on Sunday, which helped firefighters contain the blaze.

Before these recent downpours, the Boston area had gone more than two weeks (since October 14) without any measurable rain. Andrew Loconto, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Norton, said “local stream flows are only 5 to 15 percent of normal,” another indication that drought conditions are worsening.

Parts of New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine saw the “heaviest rain” – only about half an inch – overnight.

Jennifer Francis, a senior scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center, said most of the country experienced dry conditions, except for areas in the path of Hurricanes Helene and Milton. As our climate changes, we enter persistent patterns: multiple days of the same weather pattern are in place. For example, a consistently warmer atmosphere reduces variations in our weather patterns, including the paths of storms.

“The frequency of persistent patterns increases over time, especially when the Arctic is warm,” said Francis, whose research focuses on patterns in which the jet stream stays in place for four days or more.

Wet patterns can also enter into these persistent periods. The alternation between dry and wet weather is what Francis calls “meteorological whiplash”. Francis said: “Climate models show a much more robust increase in types of whiplash.” The consequences of this could mean that areas experiencing drought conditions could then quickly face flooding.

As the planet warms, the growing season also lengthens. David Boutt, a professor of hydrogeology at the University of Massachusetts, said a longer growing season brings new challenges. “As we lengthen the growing season due to climate change, it changes the water budget, making us more vulnerable to rapid dry spells,” Boutt said.

Essentially, a longer growing season means plants need more water. If the region remains dry throughout the growing season, drought becomes more likely. To compound the problem, higher temperatures also increase evaporation rates from soil, rivers and reservoirs, depleting water supplies more quickly and leaving less water available for agriculture, ecosystems and agriculture. human use.

Adam Allgood, a meteorologist at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center who specializes in monitoring and predicting climate conditions on different time scales, from weeks to seasons, said the chances of eradicating this drought in New England are low .

“There will be some opportunities for precipitation over the next couple of weeks, but not enough to get us out of the hole,” Allgood said. Our window to receive meaningful relief is short. He said: “November tends to be a good recharge period for groundwater before the ground freezes as we approach the winter months. » Unfortunately, at this point, November seems to be starting on the dry side.

November is typically the second wettest month of the year in Boston and many places in New England, averaging 3.80 inches below the March average of 3.90 inches.