Rain showers have soaked much of western New England the last couple days, but the region is still technically in a moderate drought.

We won’t know if this period of rain means the end of the drought until Thursday morning. That’s when the U.S. Drought Monitor releases its latest map.

Brad Rippey, an agricultural meteorologist for the U.S.D.A., says a few days of rain don’t undo dryness going back several months, “effectively since that crazy cold snowy period in January and February ended.”

“So a lot of stations in the northeast have had anywhere from a half to two-thirds of the normal spring rainfall,” he says.

The office will also look at soil moisture, agricultural indicators, stream flows and reservoir levels before deciding if the region is still in a drought.

And, regardless, water restrictions may stay in place for a while. Rules about lawn-watering and car-washing in Northampton, Orange and Ware are lifted only after local streams rise above a specific rate of flow for 7 consecutive days.