State regulators have issued a fire ban as drought conditions continue to intensify across the state and fire danger is now high in every Vermont county.
Starting at 12 p.m. on Monday, town fire wardens will no longer issue burn permits until further notice.
“Persistent dry conditions coupled with dry falling leaves create a high risk for rapid fire spread,” said Forest Fire Supervisor Dan Dillner in a press release. “With ground water deficits, fires will burn into the soil, consuming dried organic matter as fuel. These fires require considerable resources to contain and extinguish.”
The Green Mountain National Forest is also restricting fires, limiting them to fire pits or grills at established campsites and recreational areas within the forest.
Vermont saw its driest August on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It was the driest summer since 1913, and the first time in at least 25 years the entire state has been in drought.
All but one county in Vermont is now experiencing severe drought, with parts of the Upper Valley now facing extreme drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
At this level of drought, streams and wells often run dry and agricultural businesses ranging from Christmas tree farms to dairy farms see financial losses.
Rain in the forecast
Vermont is forecast to get some rain this week, starting Tuesday evening and continuing through Friday.
Robert Haynes, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Burlington, said the state could see as much as 2 inches of rain this week, with south and central Vermont seeing the most moisture.
“It’s mostly going to slow things down, rather than really turn the tide,” Haynes said, noting Vermont needs in the range of 5 to 8 inches of rain to end the current drought. “But this will at least decelerate the trend for a little bit.”
Haynes noted that 2023 was the wettest summer on record for Vermont, which led to widespread flooding.
“So we’ve kind of flipped between our wettest summer and one of our driest summers in just a couple of years,” he said, adding that this pattern is something forecasters expect to see more of with climate change. “You’re more likely to observe some of these swings between very wet and very dry.”
