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A prolonged period of significantly less than normal precipitation, (44 inches average per year), causing a critical drop in available sources of drinking and agricultural water supplies and producing measurable agricultural damages and losses.
Prolonged droughts in Maine are infrequent since our vast forest areas help retain moisture. However, prolonged dry spells, not droughts, where private wells and streams become dry, causing water supplies to urban areas to drop to lower levels, occur frequently in the late summer months and early fall.
A serious drought that affected Maine from the Summer of 1961 to the Fall of 1966 was due to a lack of coastal storms that normally brought a substantial amount of moisture. Calendar year 1965 was the driest in 80 years. In 1993, Poland is experiencing a dry spell, which could become a drought.
It is difficult to assign a specific time, a beginning and an ending, to a drought since a drought is determined by a period when precipitation is significantly less than normal, and will continue over time to have an adverse effect on persons living in the area.
The onset of a drought is gradual
A period of drought may last from several months to several years. The end of a drought is usually based on a determination made by individuals in the affected area that precipitation has approached accepted normal levels and existing water sources have been adequately replenished.
A drought will affect the entire town. However, some specific areas of the town might experience dry wells and streams. This may make it difficult for the towns fire department to find adequate water supplies near a fire.
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Copyright 2002, Wayne Cotterly
Revised 10/21/02