Rain brings drought relief to Sullivan County, town-by-town totals rise

Croydon picked up 1.85 inches and Charlestown 1.59, while Goshen, Claremont and Grantham all cleared the one-inch mark, giving Sullivan County a much-needed soaking that helped gardens, eased fire risk and may give local streams and wells a brief lift. The rain, measured in WMUR’s May 13-15 town-by-town totals, was meaningful relief for residents after a dry spring, but it was not enough to erase the larger drought picture.

In the county totals, Goshen logged 1.53 inches, Claremont 1.20 and Grantham 1.10. That kind of rainfall is enough to green up lawns, help newly planted gardens and slow drying in topsoil, but it can also send a quick surge of runoff through roadside ditches and smaller brooks before conditions dry out again. The town-by-town format matters because it shows what actually fell over each community, not just a broad regional average. Elsewhere in New Hampshire, Gorham took nearly 4 inches, a reminder that the storm brought uneven results across the state.

State drought officials said on May 14 that 75% of New Hampshire remained in moderate drought or worse. Recent rain had been beneficial, but not enough to overcome long-term precipitation deficits, especially in southern New Hampshire. Streamflows in most monitoring stations from the central corridor eastward were below normal or lower, and half of the wells in the monitoring network were below normal for this time of year. Since the state launched its dry-well reporting form in September 2025, it had received more than 230 reports, nearly 70% of them involving dug wells.

The broader drought also remained a concern for water use and wildfire risk. More than 80 water systems and municipalities had outdoor water use restrictions in place, mainly in southeast New Hampshire, and spring wildfire activity had increased in late April and continued into May because of dry conditions. WMUR also said the Saco at Conway and the Pemigewasset at Plymouth were under flood-warning monitoring, with minor flooding expected to fall back below flood stage later in the day. For Sullivan County, the rain brought a welcome pause, not a reset, and the long dry stretch still has the final say.