Long Island's drought eases in most places with heavy summer rains

Heavy rains over the past two months have helped ease Long Island out of its late spring and summer drought, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

In recent months, Long Island had been listed in "moderate drought" status, with some Suffolk parts listed under "severe drought" status, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Last week, that was true for about two-thirds of Suffolk and one-third of Nassau. Now, most of those same areas — encompassing the South Shore and the East End — are listed as just “abnormally dry,” no longer in a drought. A small portion of the South Fork remains under the moderate drought classification.

The first half of 2026, marked by an “unusual” dry spring, set the year on a course to be one of the driest ever based on local climate data, according to Jase Bernhardt, associate professor and director of sustainability studies in the Department of Geology, Environment and Sustainability at Hofstra University.

“But then it flipped; July and August have been among the wettest July and August periods on record,” Bernhardt said. “We’ve gone towards average for the year now, so not surprisingly, any sort of minor drought concerns have eased up.”

The weather service measured more than double the normal amount of rainfall for both July and August in Islip.

“We’ve had significant rain for the last several months that has helped to put a dent in the drought,” weather service meteorologist David Stark told Newsday.

This was a common trend throughout much of the Northeast region, according to NOAA.

Between July 26 and Monday, “a broad corridor stretching through eastern and southeastern New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, western Massachusetts, and small sections of Vermont and New Hampshire were exceptionally wet, with some areas receiving over 150% to more than 200% of normal precipitation,” the administration said in a Thursday news release.

Drought concerns are more likely on Long Island in the fall, when the area “dries out after early summer storms,” Bernhardt said. He added that it’s “not impossible” to have a drought during the other seasons, but “it is difficult to get into a really serious prolonged drought because of our relatively wet climate, and consistently year-round we usually see a good deal of precipitation.”

Dry conditions sparked concerns for local water supplies earlier this summer, resulting in the Suffolk County Water Authority calling on residents last month to temporarily stop watering their lawns. The authority also enacted a Stage 1 Water Alert for the East End, during which it asked residents to water their lawns on alternating days.