ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — The drought conditions have lessened throughout North Carolina, with three WNC counties still in the “severe drought” category: Transylvania, Jackson, Franklin and Macon.
According to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor released on Sept. 17, there are also three WNC counties showing no drought conditions at all: Burke, McDowell and Rutherford.
The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) said in a Sept. 17 news release that the drought is lingering due to below-average rainfall, along with unseasonably warm temperatures. The NCDEQ said the monitor shows more than two-thirds of the state’s counties remain categorized as in some stage of drought. Parts of Guilford and Rockingham counties in the northern Piedmont saw expansion of exceptional drought conditions, which is the worst category. Other parts of Guilford and Rockingham, along with Caswell, Person and Granville counties, remain in extreme drought, the second-worst category.
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Drought conditions also worsened in some parts of Cherokee, Haywood and Swain counties, the NCDEQ said in the release.
Several WNC counties fell into the ‘abnormally dry’ category, which is just above no drought at all. Those were Buncombe, Graham, Madison, Mitchell, Polk and Yancey counties.
Experts said they are expecting the drought to lessen more in the coming weeks.
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“The weather pattern is shifting toward a more active and moisture-rich setup through the end of September and into early October,” said Barrett Smith, a member of the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council and the Senior Service Hydrologist for the National Weather Service in Raleigh, in the release.“However, while above-normal rainfall is favored, considerable uncertainty remains regarding total rainfall amounts in the coming weeks.”
More information on what the classifications mean for water systems and the public is available atncdrought.org.