Current Impacts
To see or report current drought impacts, please visit the Drought Impacts Toolkit, where you can find impacts from media in the Drought Impact Reporter and from citizen scientists and other volunteer observers under Condition Monitoring Observations.
Historic Impacts
No two states have the same experience during a drought. Below are examples of some of the impacts experienced in Vermont in the past. The process for developing this example impact table is described in Noel, M., Bathke, D., Fuchs, B., Gutzmer, D., Haigh, T., Hayes, M., Poděbradská, M., Shield, C., Smith, K. and Svoboda, M., 2020. Linking drought impacts to drought severity at the state level. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 101(8), pp.E1312-E1321. doi: 10.1175/BAMS-D-19-0067.1. To view a more complete record, and to filter impacts by drought severity, sector and season, check out the interactive State Impacts Tool.
| Category | Examples of historically observed impacts |
|---|
| D0 | Crop growth is stunted; planting is delayed |
| Fire danger is elevated; spring fire season starts early |
| Lawns brown early; gardens begin to wilt |
| Surface water levels decline |
| D1 | Honey production declines |
| Irrigation use increases; hay and grain yields are lower than normal |
| Trees and landscaping are stressed; fish are stressed |
| Voluntary water conservation is requested; reservoir and lake levels are below normal capacity |
| Wildfires and ground fires increase |
| D2 | Fish kills occur; wildlife move to farms for food |
| Golf courses conserve water |
| Producers begin feeding cattle; hay prices are high |
| Specialty crops are impacted in both yield and fruit size |
| Trees are brittle and susceptible to insects |
| Warnings are issued on outdoor burns; air quality is poor |
| Water quality is poor; groundwater is declining; irrigation ponds are dry; outdoor water restrictions are implemented |
| D3 | Crop loss is widespread; Christmas tree farms are stressed; dairy farmers are struggling financially |
| Extremely reduced flow to ceased flow of water is observed; river temperatures are warm; wells are running dry; people are digging more and deeper wells |
| Water recreation and hunting are modified; wildlife disease outbreak is observed |
| Well drillers and bulk water haulers see increased business |