BOSTON -.Just wait until next week.
Since Aug. 9, 2016 -- exactly six months ago -- at least part of Massachusetts has been 
under an "extreme drought" as classified by the U.S. Drought Monitor. The federal group's 
latest update drops the percentage of the state still in its second-most-dire category to 0.01 
percent -- so little that the bright red indicator does not appear on the Monitor's map.
Thursday's update only considers weather data until Tuesday morning, before much of the 
state got cold rain and snow, and before the nor'easter that's enveloped the state Thursday. 
Next Thursday's update will take all of that precipitation into account.
When the red splotch indicating an extreme drought first popped up on the Drought Monitor's 
map in August, a National Weather Service meteorologist said it was unprecedented. "We 
were talking in the office and we can't remember the Drought Monitor putting anything in 
Massachusetts at a D3," Alan Dunham of the NWS' Hydrologic Program said then, referring 
to the Drought Monitor's category for extreme drought. "It's a rare situation for us."
The Monitor's online data dates back to 2000 and reported no extreme drought in 
Massachusetts until last August. At first, the 3.66 percent of the state under the category 
centered around Andover, Wilmington, North Reading, Tewksbury, Billerica, Concord and 
Lexington.
By late September, the red splotch grew into a sprawling stain across at least parts of every 
mainland county except Berkshire County -- 52.13 percent of the state in total. It receded 
from northeast to southwest, but not before spanning the state's height.
Thursday's update does not herald the end of 
the drought that has dehydrated 
Massachusetts for a year. All of mainland 
Massachusetts is under at least a "moderate 
drought" and about a third of the state is still 
classified as experiencing "severe drought" 
conditions. Martha's Vineyard  is "abnormally 
dry" and only Nantucket is adequately hydrated, 
according to the Monitor.
The state's own Drought Management Task Force met earlier this week and recommended upgrading the state's drought levels in several regions. The task force suggested a drought warning in the Connecticut River Valley and southeast region; a drought watch in the west and central regions; and a drought advisory for the northeast and Cape Cod. The recommendations won't be final under Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Matt Beaton signs off on them. 
Since the new year, the "extreme drought" percentage has plummeted rapidly, down to the smallest measurable amount. The unprecedented extreme drought's six-month stay will last at least one more week.