Rain in late October improved drought conditions in Maine’s western mountains but wasn’t enough to stop extreme drought from expanding to cover much of the southern part of the state, including Portland, according to newly released data.

All of coastal Maine — other than the southernmost tip of York County — is now in extreme drought, according to an update Thursday from the U.S. Drought Monitor. Nearly 43% of the state is experiencing extreme conditions, a jump from 36% a week ago.

But more than 5 inches of rain fell last week in some parts of the western mountains — a beneficial soaking that moved some of Oxford and Franklin counties down a level from extreme to severe drought.

Only northern Aroostook County and a small area in Penobscot and Oxford counties are in the less-severe moderate drought category, according to the drought monitor.

Despite the localized improvements, areas in extreme drought need another foot of rain before the ground freezes, said Sarah Jamison, senior service hydrologist with the National Weather Service office in Gray.

“It’s very likely that we will be going into the winter season with some form of drought,” she said.

Once soils freeze, precipitation can no longer effectively recharge aquifers, and drought conditions would persist until the snow melts in the spring. A winter without much snow would be “less than ideal,” Jamison said.

“A snowy winter could go a long way to helping ease our current conditions,” she said.

Jamison said the state has moved into a wetter pattern of late, though southern coastal areas got only one-third to one-half of the precipitation typically expected in October.

“We have a long way to go, but it’s nice to see we’re trending in a direction that will step by step start to recharge our system,” she said.

The drought conditions have gripped much of Maine since the middle of August.

The drought has caused smaller hay crops, shortened the season for many row crops, and could hurt next year’s berry and tree fruit harvests. Poland Spring has started scaling back withdrawals at multiple sights because of dropping ground water levels.

So far this year, 477 dry wells — including 113 in Oxford County — have been reported across Maine, according to the Maine Emergency Management Agency, which collects self-reported data from well owners through an online survey. That’s more than the past four years combined, according to state data.

On Thursday night and Friday morning, many areas of Maine could see an inch of rain, while some lucky regions could get 2 inches, Jamison said.

“It’s much-needed rainfall and hopefully will clear out in time for trick-or-treaters,” she said.