History of Drought Declarations in Massachusetts

This page gives a history of drought declarations in Massachusetts since 2001, when the first Drought Management Plan was published.

The start date for a drought is the first day of the month or 30-day period for which some level of drought is declared. The end of the drought is the last day of the month or 30-day period for which Normal is first declared following a drought.

6/1/2024 through present

Month	Year	Western	CT River Valley	Central	Northeast	Southeast	Cape Cod	Islands
June	2024	Mild	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal
July	2024	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal
					Parker Basin-Mild
August	2024	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal
					Parker Basin-Mild
September	2024	Normal	Normal	Mild	Mild	Normal	Normal	Normal
		Hudson Basin-Mild				Boston Harbor Basin-Mild
October	2024	Significant	Significant	Critical	Critical	Significant	Normal	Normal
Mid-October	2024	Critical	Critical	Critical	Critical	Critical	Normal	Normal
November	2024	Critical	Critical	Critical	Critical	Critical	Mild	Mild
December	2024	Mild	Significant	Significant	Significant	Mild	Mild	Mild
January	2025	Mild	Significant	Critical	Critical	Significant	Significant	Significant
February	2025	Significant	Critical	Critical	Critical	Significant	Significant	Significant
March	2025	Mild	Mild	Mild	Significant	Mild	Significant	Significant
April	2025	Mild	Mild	Normal	Mild	Mild	Significant	Mild
Mid-May	2025	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Mild	Significant	Mild
May	2025	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Significant	Mild
June	2025	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Mild	Normal
								Nantucket County-Mild
July	2025	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Significant	Normal
								Nantucket County-Mild
August	2025	Significant	Significant	Significant	Significant	Mild	Significant	Normal
								Nantucket County-Mild
September	2025	Significant	Significant	Significant	Mild	Mild	Significant	Dukes County-Mild
			Deerfield Basin-Critical	Millers Basin-Critical				Nantucket County-Critical

11/1/2023 through 03/31/24

Month	Year	Western	CT River Valley	Central	Northeast	Southeast	Cape Cod	Islands
November	2023	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Significant
December	2023	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Significant
January	2024	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Significant
February	2024	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Mild
March	2024	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal

5/1/2023 through 6/30/2023

Month	Year	Western	CT River Valley	Central	Northeast	Southeast	Cape Cod	Islands
May	2023	Mild	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Mild	Normal
June	2023	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal

4/1/2022 through 1/31/2023

Month	Year	Western	CT River Valley	Central	Northeast	Southeast	Cape Cod	Islands
April	2022	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Mild	Normal	Mild
May	2022	Normal	Mild	Mild	Significant	Significant	Normal	Mild
June	2022	Mild	Significant	Significant	Significant	Significant	Normal	Mild
Mid-July	2022	Mild	Significant	Critical	Critical	Significant	Mild	Mild
July	2022	Mild	Critical	Critical	Critical	Critical	Significant	Mild
Mid-August	2022	Significant	Critical	Critical	Critical	Critical	Critical	Significant
August	2022	Significant	Critical	Critical	Critical	Significant	Critical	Significant
September	2022	Normal	Mild	Mild	Significant	Mild	Significant	Significant
October	2022	Normal	Mild	Normal	Mild	Normal	Mild	Significant
November	2022	Normal	Mild	Normal	Significant	Normal	Significant	Significant
December	2022	Normal	Normal	Normal	Mild	Normal	Mild	Significant
January	2023	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal

2/1/2021 through 9/30/2021

Month	Year	Western	CT River Valley	Central	Northeast	Southeast	Cape Cod	Islands
February	2021	Mild	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal
March	2021	Mild	Mild	Mild	Mild	Significant	Mild	Normal
April	2021	Mild	Mild	Mild	Normal	Normal	Mild	Normal
May	2021	Mild	Normal	Normal	Normal	Mild	Mild	Normal
June	2021	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Mild	Normal
July	2021	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Mild	Normal
August	2021	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Mild	Normal
September	2021	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal

5/1/2020 through 12/31/2020

Month	Year	Western	CT River Valley	Central	Northeast	Southeast	Cape Cod	Islands
May	2020	Significant	Significant	Significant	Significant	Normal	Normal	Normal
June	2020	Significant	Significant	Significant	Mild	Normal	Mild	Normal
July	2020	Significant	Significant	Significant	Significant	Significant	Significant	Significant
August	2020	Significant	Significant	Significant	Significant	Significant	Significant	Significant
September	2020	Significant	Significant	Significant Drought	Significant	Critical	Significant	Significant
				Millers Basin-Critical	Charles Basin- Critical
October	2020	Mild	Mild	Mild	Mild	Significant	Significant	Mild
				Nashua Basin-Significant
November	2020	Mild	Mild	Mild	Mild	Mild	Mild	Mild
December	2020	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal

9/1/2019 through 10/31/2019

Month	Year	Western	CT River Valley	Central	Northeast	Southeast	Cape Cod	Islands
September	2019	Normal	Mild	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal
October	2019	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal

Drought tables before 2019

The MA Drought Management Plan was revised in 2019. The entries prior to 2019 follow the 2013 MA Drought Management Plan. 

6/1/2016 through 4/30/2017

Month	Year	Western	CT River Valley	Central	Northeast	Southeast	Cape & Islands
June	2016	Normal	Advisory	Watch	Watch	Advisory	Normal
July	2016	Advisory	Watch	Warning	Warning	Watch	Advisory
August	2016	Advisory	Watch	Warning	Warning	Warning	Watch
September	2016	Watch	Warning	Warning	Warning	Warning	Watch
October	2016	Warning	Warning	Warning	Warning	Warning	Advisory
November	2016	Warning	Warning	Warning	Warning	Warning	Advisory
December	2016	Warning	Warning	Warning	Watch	Warning	Advisory
January	2017	Watch	Warning	Watch	Advisory	Warning	Advisory
February	2017	Advisory	Watch	Advisory	Advisory	Watch	Advisory
March	2017	Normal	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory
April	2017	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal

9/1/2014 through 12/31/2014

Month	Year	Western	CT River Valley	Central	Northeast	Southeast	Cape & Islands
September	2014	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Advisory	Advisory
October	2014	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Advisory	Advisory
November	2014	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Advisory	Advisory
December	2014	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal

7/1/2010 through 10/31/2010

Month	Year	Western	CT River Valley	Central	Northeast	Southeast	Cape & Islands
July	2010	Normal	Normal	Advisory	Advisory	Normal	Normal
August	2010	Normal	Normal	Advisory	Advisory	Normal	Normal
September	2010	Normal	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory	Normal	Normal
October	2010	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal

9/1/2007 through 2/29/2008

Month	Year	Western	CT River Valley	Central	Northeast	Southeast	Cape & Islands
September	2007	Normal	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory	Normal
October	2007	Normal	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory	Normal
November	2007	Normal	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory	Normal
December	2007	Normal	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory	Normal
January	2007	Normal	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory	Normal
February	2008	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal

11/1/2001 through 1/31/2002

Month	Year	Western	CT River Valley	Central	Northeast	Southeast	Cape & Islands
November	2001	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory
December	2001	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory
January	2002	Advisory	Watch	Watch	Watch	Advisory	Advisory
February	2002	Watch	Watch	Watch	Watch	Watch	Watch
March	2002	Watch	Watch	Watch	Watch	Watch	Watch
April	2002	Watch	Watch	Watch	Watch	Watch	Watch
May	2002	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory
June	2002	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory
July	2002	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory	Watch	Watch
August	2002	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory	Watch	Watch
September	2002	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory	Watch	Watch
October	2002	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory	Advisory
November	2002	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Advisory
December	2002	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Advisory
January	2003	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal