Question
I have some sick norway spurce where the needles are turning rust color on the inner branches. These trees range from 5 ft to 7 feet. We had an extremely dry summer and I was not around to water them and I do not know whether they are stressed. I could send some pictures for your reference and suggestions.

Answer
If the outer needles are green and the tree shows signs of growth at the ends of the branches I would think this is a reaction to the drought conditions. Conifers will normally drop the older inner needles and this may be gradual ant not readily observed by people except for the needles on the ground. During drought the tree may drop much more needles the in normal years. If the needles are green on the ends of the branches this sound like normal for the conditions the tree was under.