The Drought In Mass. Has Finally Lessened

Nearly 40 percent of Massachusetts is now in an extreme drought — and that's actually some good news.

That's because the portion of the state in the extreme category declined from 52 percent last week to 38 percent this week, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

What changed: Southeastern Massachusetts moved from an extreme drought to a severe drought.

Overall, the portion of the state in at least the severe category also declined, from 90 percent last week to 84 percent this week.

The change comes after a very rainy Sunday for much of Massachusetts.

As The Boston Globe reported, the city itself received more rain on Sunday (1.84 inches) than it did in any single month since May.

Three months ago, on July 12, just about a third of the state was in severe drought, and none of the state was in extreme drought.

Before this summer the state had not seen extreme drought at all since the Drought Monitor began tracking drought data in 1999.

With reporting by WBUR's Benjamin Swasey