MAINE, USA — If Mainers were hoping for the drought to end quickly, it's best to lower expectations; scientists are urging the drought to be seen as a long-term condition.

The Maine Drought Task Force met on Thursday for the second time this year to discuss the state's current drought conditions and the necessary weather changes to alleviate them.

The good news, according to Sarah Jamison, senior service hydrologist at the National Weather Service station in Gray, is that Maine is heading into one of its wettest periods, October. The bad news is that it will take a significant amount of rain to saturate the earth sufficiently to escape drought conditions.

According to Jamison, Maine, on average, will need an additional six to 12 inches of rain in addition to what the state typically get

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