North Carolina’s Drought Management Advisory Council (DMAC) has classified 11 counties in eastern North Carolina as experiencing severe drought conditions, also known as D2, in the latest drought advisory issued Thursday.
Severe drought is impacting portions of Beaufort, Dare, Duplin, Greene, Hyde, Martin, Onslow, Pender, Pitt, Tyrrell and Washington counties. In addition, the DMAC classified 42 counties as experiencing moderate drought, or D1, as part of expanding drought conditions across the state.
“This current dry spell in North Carolina began with a very dry October and warm November,” said Klaus Albertin, chair of the DMAC. “We have had a number of rain events, but the total monthly precipitation for many areas in the state has been below average in October, November and December. While some areas received four to 4 to 6 inches of snowfall last week, the water equivalence of snow is much less than rainfall, so the end effect was less than an inch of moisture.”
Impacts to water systems are expected to be limited at this time due to lower demand, and dormant vegetation. Water users in areas with severe drought conditions are advised to follow the Water Shortage Response recommended by their water utilities.
Albertin said the mid- to long-term forecast is for a continued dry winter, due to the La Niña pattern.
DMAC is a collaboration of drought experts from various government agencies in North Carolina, Virginia and South Carolina, and organized by the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Water Resources (DWR). Members of DMAC meet weekly and submit their drought condition recommendations to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 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.
DMAC’s drought map is updated weekly on Thursdays, based on conditions through the previous Tuesday. To view North Carolina’s drought map, visit www.ncdrought.org. The next update will be on Jan. 23.
To learn more, visit https://www.ncdrought.org/education.