Eighty-two percent of New England is experiencing drought conditions, affecting everything from wildfire risk to the vibrancy of the region’s iconic fall foliage.

As farmers across the region struggle with shrinking crop yields and wells run dry, some of the nation’s leading climatologists are wondering whether flash droughts in New England are becoming the new normal. Despite 2021 and 2023’s record floods drawing media and policy attention, the region has seen an unprecedented run of dry spells for an area considered water-rich.

New England’s climate has long been defined by moderation: mild summers, brilliant autumns and winters cold enough to sustain skiing and snowmobiling. Spring, by contrast, is better known for “mud season”—a mix of melting snow and steady rain that turns fields a

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