What a difference a week can make. Gone is the traffic that accompanies the summer tourist season. Now, weather forecasters say, we can look forward to lots of sunny skies, days of brush and building fires, and dangerously low water levels in the state's rivers and lakes.
The end of the summer of 2025 is going down as extremely dry, causing dangerous conditions for boaters, hikers and just about anyone going outside.
"We don't have any really wet patterns in sight," said John Palmer, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine.
Though there's half-an-inch or so of rain potentially coming Saturday, that's a long way from restoring a summer's worth of dry days.
To be exact, Lake Winnipesaukee is more than 17 inches below its normal water level. Rainfall for August was 2.17 inches below normal -- 1.18 inches compared with 3.35 inches normally. And all the fire stations in the region have had the same "High" or "Very High" fire danger signs in front.
The low lake levels are causing problems throughout New England. Last Saturday night, for instance, state Marine Patrol officials were joined by local fire departments in rescuing six boaters whose boat had struck a rock, presumably due to the water level, officials said.
"It's so low, you don't have to even measure it, you can see it everywhere along the shores," said Gilford Fire Department Deputy Bradley Ober.
The Winnipesaukee Lake Alliance issued a warning to boaters, in fact, at the end of last week because of potential dangers that accompany drought-level waters.
"Water levels are extremely low, so boaters should take extra care in shallow areas, and trim up to avoid stirring up bottom sediments and causing shoreline erosion. When sediments are disturbed, they can harm aquatic life, reduce water clarity, and release nutrients like phosphorus that fuel algae and cyanobacteria growth," the warning read.
"The lakes are extremely low," said Bree Rossiter, the alliance's program manager. "We just need people to pay attention."