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How much water is needed for Connecticut to bust through the summer drought?

With the drought worsening and no benefitial rainfall on the horizon, how much water does the state need to make up the deficit?

CONNECTICUT, USA — Connecticut's drought continues to worsen as the summer season presses on.

Eastern parts of Windham and New London counties have been upgraded to extreme drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor as of Thursday morning. The area makes up about 13% of the state. But the rest of Connecticut is also experiencing a moderate or severe drought, depending on the location. 

RELATED: Eastern Connecticut faces 'extreme drought' conditions as state continues to see lack of rainfall

With no major rainfall in sight, the drought will likely continue to worsen.

So how much water do we need to bust this drought?

On average, 11 inches of rain would be needed in a month to make up the deficit across the state.   

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Of course, we don’t want that all at once, instead spread over a period of days. 

As the drought continues to persist over two months, Connecticut would need close to 15-16 inches of rain, and over three months, 19 inches of rain.

Typically, we get the most rainfall in the summer with tropical systems. This time last year, Connecticut already had two tropical systems, Elsa and Fred, dump rainfall across the state – and we still had Henri and Ida to come. 

While the hurricane season hasn’t been too active over the last month, signs point to that changing in late August.

RELATED: Eastern Connecticut farm feeling impacts of drought

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Rachel Piscitelli is a meteorologist for FOX61 News. She can be reached at rpiscitelli@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.  

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