Heavy rains last month, including a downpour on Baltimore’s annual Artscape celebration, haven’t been enough to pull the region out of the drought it’s been in, meteorologists say.

And although forecasters predict a below-normal Atlantic hurricane season, the “drought disaster” is likely to continue into the summer.

“I think it’s going to get worse again because we’re only expecting little precipitation,” said Brian LaSorsa, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

The weather service recorded 1-3 inches in Southern Maryland and 3-6 inches in Central, Northern and Western Maryland during the last couple weeks of May, LaSorsa said. The rainfall improved the severity of the drought, reducing the probability of severe to extreme drought in the state from 95.16% to 51.71% by the end of the month, officials from the U.S. Drought Monitor told The Banner in an email.

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However, LaSorsa said that Southern Maryland remains in a severe drought while the northern and central parts of the state are in a moderate drought.

“Unless we get a real good soaking rain or a tropical system or something like that,” he said, it doesn’t look like much will change.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center has forecast near normal precipitation in Maryland during the first weeks of June. Climate officials said above-normal precipitation is possible between June 13-26, but officials foresee the drought in Maryland persisting through the month.

Maryland is entering its fourth year in a drought, said Greg Busch, the water supply program manager at the Maryland Department of the Environment. The state typically sees about 4 inches of rain per month, but Busch said the state only got 3 inches of rainfall per month between August 2025 and April. Busch said May’s rainfall helped some, including boosting the water supply and reservoirs across the state, but not a whole lot.

“While that rainfall was great, we need to see continued sustained rainfall over the next several months to be able to return to a place that’s typical for Maryland,” Busch said.

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The state experienced severe droughts in 2002, 1999, and before that in the 1960s and 1930s. In some cases, Busch said, MDE issued mandatory state water restrictions. That hasn’t happened during this drought, though local officials have implemented some voluntary restrictions.

Last month, officials from Baltimore’s public works department, which manages drinking water for many across the region, gathered at Prettyboy Reservoir to encourage residents of the city and parts of Baltimore, Carroll, Harford and Howard counties to voluntarily limit their water use.

At that point, officials said, water levels at Prettyboy Reservoir had dropped 6 feet below normal. DPW officials made a similar call during last year’s drought after Liberty Reservoir, a key water resource, dropped to its lowest point in nearly 20 years.

MDE is monitoring local calls across Maryland, but the agency hasn’t issued any statewide mandatory water restrictions. It advised households to conserve water by watering lawns or gardening either early in the morning or late in the evening, fixing leaky fixtures and installing water-efficient plumbing, among other recommendations.

“We don’t have a severe shortage of water,” Busch said. “Our streams are flowing lower than normal. Our groundwater levels are lower than normal. Our reservoirs are lower than normal, so we’re encouraging everyone to conserve water and use water wisely.”

Banner reporter Adam Willis contributed to this report.