More than 60 North Carolina counties still in some category of drought
Drought conditions in parts of the mountains and coast eased last week due to heavy rain in some areas, but most of North Carolina continued to remain in drought conditions as the trend of higher-than-average temperatures and below normal rain continued, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor report released Thursday. Because many river, reservoir and groundwater levels remain below normal, the public is encouraged to conserve water in areas categorized as being in the worst drought conditions.
Sixty-two North Carolina counties remained categorized as in some stage of drought, according to the latest drought map, which includes data from Sept. 22-29. Parts of Guilford and Rockingham counties in the northern Piedmont remained in exceptional drought, the worst category. Other parts of Guilford and Rockingham, along with areas in Stokes, Caswell, Person and Granville counties, remained in extreme drought, the second worst category. Abnormally dry or drought conditions worsened in parts of the coastal plain, which received less than half the normal rainfall for the week. Areas in Lenoir and Greene counties were in extreme drought.
“The nor’easter this week brought high tides and heavy wave action on the coast but brought less than a quarter inch of rain,” said Klaus Albertin, chair of the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council and Water Resources Engineer with the NC Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Water Resources.
“September is typically the wettest month in North Carolina, largely due to tropical activity. Areas along the coast experienced their first or second driest September on record, the result of a prevailing drier than normal weather pattern and limited storm activity in the Atlantic Basin,” Albertin said. “While temperatures will be much above normal for the next couple of days, rain is in the forecast for this weekend, which should lead to some improvement.”
Heavy rain fell in parts of Western North Carolina, with some areas receiving 2 to 4 inches and causing flash flooding. The heaviest rain occurred in areas that were already drought free but above average rainfall along the Blue Ridge foothills still brought some relief for drier areas.
Kerr Lake in Vance, Granville and Warren counties is almost 11 feet below normal, the fifth-lowest level ever recorded. Because of the low level, the John H. Kerr Dam & Reservoir along the Virginia state line last week reduced hydropower by approximately 1,600 megawatts, a 44% reduction in power generation. Elevation levels at Jordan Lake in Chatham County and Falls Lake in Durham, Wake and Granville counties continue to decline. More than half of the streamflows across the state were below-normal or much below-normal.
For counties in exceptional or extreme drought, water systems are advised to follow their Water Shortage Response Plans and adhere to water use reduction measures. Systems in these areas must report weekly water use and conservation status online at the Water Use Reporting website. More information on what the classifications mean for water systems and the public is available at ncdrought.org.
Residents can check with their local water supply system for information on water use restrictions such as limits on lawn watering, car washing or other measures. Systems may also have tips for conserving water, such as washing only full loads of laundry. Visit DEQ’s Water Conservation page for more tips on how to conserve water. DEQ's Drought Indicator Wells can provide insights into local groundwater conditions.
About the Drought Management Advisory Council
North Carolina maintains one of the most comprehensive state level drought monitoring efforts in the United States. Each week, the DMAC, a multiagency group of drought experts from various government agencies in North Carolina, Virginia and South Carolina, evaluates a wide range of environmental, hydrological and agricultural indicators to produce the state’s official drought assessment and recommendations to the U.S. Drought Monitor. DMAC is chaired by DEQ’s Division of Water Resources.
DMAC members meet weekly and submit their drought condition recommendations to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Drought Mitigation Center for updates to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a map of the nation’s drought conditions. The U.S. Drought Monitor map is updated weekly on Thursdays, based on conditions through the previous Tuesday. To view North Carolina’s drought map, visit www.ncdrought.org.
To learn more, visit DEQ’s drought education page.
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