Labor Day Rain Eases Drought In Reading Area: Drought Monitor

READING, MA — Heavy rains last week eased drought conditions across much of Massachusetts, the U.S. Drought Monitor said in a drought update on Thursday.

That marked good news for Reading, which had been under extreme drought conditions alongside a large swath of Massachusetts communities.

Although the extreme drought area shrunk to no longer include Reading, the town is still experiencing “severe drought” conditions, according to the Drought Monitor. Standard summer water restrictions also remain in effect.

A difficult summer with little rainfall has prompted many communities across the state to implement water restrictions.

Though spared more stringent measures, Reading residents have heard additional warnings of increased fire danger due to dry soil and vegetation in area habitats.

That danger manifested recently when roughly 80 acres of the Breakheart Reservation in Saugus burned beginning last month, according to Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) estimates. The fires sent smoke over area communities at times and continued to smolder underground in some places even after the DCR announced a partial reopening of the reservation last week.

It will take several days of rainfall to completely extinguish those hotspots, DCR officials said.

Finally helping pull Reading out of its extreme drought, rain this past week was a welcome sight for many, bringing massive rainfall to parts of Rhode Island and Connecticut while also dropping steady rain through Central Massachusetts and some areas north of Boston.

One weather spotter report from the National Weather Service on Tuesday measured at least 1.19 inches specifically in Reading around 8 a.m.

The forecast is now clear through the weekend, with no more rain predicted until Monday, according to Accuweather.