Press release from NCDEQ:
Rainfall helps improve drought conditions in western North Carolina
RALEIGH – The North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council (DMAC) removed the extreme drought (D3) classification for 13 counties in western North Carolina in the latest drought advisory issued Thursday, and shifted all or part of 24 western counties into severe, or D2, drought.
“Thanks to the 2 to 3 inches of rainfall that we saw in the mountains, DMAC was able to upgrade the classifications in western North Carolina from D3 to D2,” said Linwood Peele, water supply planning branch supervisor for the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, and a member of the DMAC. “This will be the first week since Nov. 14 that we don’t have any counties in the state in extreme drought.”Meanwhile, in eastern North Carolina, abnormally dry conditions expanded. Thirty-three counties were listed as abnormally dry (D0), while another 39 counties across the state were listed as in Moderate Drought, or D1.“In Eastern North Carolina, they got much less rain, so we saw the growth of abnormally dry conditions,” Peele said.While conditions improved in parts of North Carolina due to rainfall, there is more precipitation needed to address deficits in the groundwater, soil moisture and reservoirs.“Continued consistent rainfall is going to get us out of D2 and D1 conditions,” Peele said. “We are still expecting above-average rainfall with the El Niño pattern – that could help conditions to improve.”DMAC’s drought map is updated weekly on Thursdays. The next map update will be on Dec. 21. To learn more, visit https://www.ncdrought.org/education.
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