Drought in New Hampshire, August 1 to 31, 2001

Name: Drought in New Hampshire, August 1 to 31, 2001
Start: 2001-08-01T00:00
End: 2001-08-31T23:59
Location: New Hampshire

August 1 to 31, 2001 · NWS GYX · 12 events in 12 counties and zones

Below normal rainfall caused drought conditions to worsen across the state during August. The drought continued to affect farmers and well owners, and kept the fire danger high.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 12 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 12

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS GYX wrote it up.

Below normal rainfall caused drought conditions to worsen across the state during August. The drought continued to affect farmers and well owners, and kept the fire danger high. For farmers, the corn and hay crop were hardest hit, with some farmers choosing to plow under their corn. Many smaller vegetable growers were also hard hit.Reservoir levels were also below normal for August. For reservoirs in the Androscoggin basin, storage was 8 percent below normal. Reservoirs in other river basins were generally 10 to as much as 25 percent below normal. River flows were also at record low levels by the end of the month. The Upper Ammonoosuc River recorded it's lowest August flow in the 59 years of record while the lower Ammonoosuc recorded it's lowest August flow in the 62 years of record. The Saco River at Conway recorded the lowest flow in 78 years.Some rainfall departures from normal for the period from August 2000 through August 2001 included -26.99 inches at Mount Washington, -21.27 inches at Tamworth, -16.58 inches at Pinkham Notch, 16.26 inches at North Conway, and -11.52 inches at Plymouth.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Gray, ME wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 31, 7:20 PM EST, 4 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 31, 7:20 PM EST, 4 hours 40 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAY ME
820 PM EDT TUE JUL 31 2001

SYNOPSIS...LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM SOUTH OF NOVA SCOTIA WILL MOVE NORTH
TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY.  RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE OVER SOUTHERN QUEBEC
PROVINCE WILL MOVE SOUTH AND CREST OVER NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND
WEDNESDAY.  THE HIGH WILL MOVE SOUTH OF THE FORECAST AREA THURSDAY.

ZONES...WIDELY SCATTERED DIURNAL SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
DIMINISHING RAPIDLY OVER THE PAST TWO HOURS.  WILL UPDATE ZONES TO
REMOVE THE MENTION OF EVENING CONVECTION.  CIRRUS ASSOCIATED WITH
OCEAN LOW IS BACKING IN FROM THE EAST OVER THE EASTERN PORTION OF
THE FORECAST AREA.  THIS PLUS CONVECTIVE REMNANTS AND CIRRUS
SPILLING OVER UPSTREAM H5 RIDGE SHOULD SHOULD BE SUFFICIENT TO KEEP
SKIES PARTLY CLOUDY OVERNIGHT.  MINIMUM TEMPERATURE FORECAST LOOKS
TO BE ON TRACK WITH LOWS RANGING FROM THE MID AND UPPER 40S NORTHERN
VALLEYS TO UPPER 50S COAST.  PWMWRKZFP AVAILABLE FOR COORDINATION.

MARINE...4 FT SWELLS FROM OCEAN LOW HAVE REACHED THE PORTLAND BUOY.
NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGE EXPECTED OVERNIGHT.  WILL INCREASE SEAS AND
MENTION SWELLS ON UPDATE.  PWMWRKCWF AVAILABLE FOR COORDINATION.

FCSTID = 7
_
.GYX...
ME...NONE.
NH...NONE.

WHEELER

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

12 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Belknap

When: August 1, 12:00 AM EST to August 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Belknap forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 43.519, -71.423 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Coastal Rockingham

When: August 1, 12:00 AM EST to August 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Coastal Rockingham forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.985, -71.089 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Interior Rockingham

When: August 1, 12:00 AM EST to August 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Interior Rockingham forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.985, -71.089 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Merrimack

When: August 1, 12:00 AM EST to August 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Merrimack forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 43.298, -71.680 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Northern Carroll

When: August 1, 12:00 AM EST to August 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Northern Carroll forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 43.874, -71.203 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Northern Coos

When: August 1, 12:00 AM EST to August 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Northern Coos forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 44.690, -71.305 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Northern Grafton

When: August 1, 12:00 AM EST to August 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Northern Grafton forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 43.941, -71.820 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Southern Carroll

When: August 1, 12:00 AM EST to August 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Southern Carroll forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 43.874, -71.203 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Southern Coos

When: August 1, 12:00 AM EST to August 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Southern Coos forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 44.690, -71.305 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Southern Grafton

When: August 1, 12:00 AM EST to August 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Southern Grafton forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 43.941, -71.820 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Strafford

When: August 1, 12:00 AM EST to August 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Strafford forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 43.297, -71.029 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Sullivan

When: August 1, 12:00 AM EST to August 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Sullivan forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 43.361, -72.222 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Drought: A drought reaching severe (D2) or worse on the US Drought Monitor, or with notable impacts.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in New Hampshire in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in New Hampshire, August 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5263245, 5263246, 5263247, 5263248, 5263249, 5263250, 5263251, 5263252, 5263253, 5263254, 5263255, 5263256.