CHARLOTTE — The latest drought monitor shows minor improvements to drought conditions across the Charlotte metro area.
[ READ MORE: Here’s what led to our drought ]
The area was downgraded back to extreme and severe levels of drought this week after seeing exceptional levels of drought appear in the update from April 28, which is the highest level of drought you can achieve.
The reason for this minor change was the soaking rain that moved through the Carolinas last week. Some areas around Charlotte picked up 2 to 2.5 inches of rain. The North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council says that rainfall helped bring stream flows back to near normal levels around the metro area. They also mentioned in this week’s update that topsoil moisture saw modest gains from that rain.
However, the council stresses that deeper soil moisture, groundwater, and lake levels saw little to no changes, which means there is still much more work to be done to recover from this drought.
Mandatory water restrictions for Mecklenburg County and surrounding communities will still start on Friday, even with this minor improvement to the drought monitor.
For Charlotte, the rainfall deficit still sits at about 7.5 inches of rain for this year. We would need about 15 inches of rain in one month to completely recover from this drought.
Looking ahead, our weather pattern is turning hot and staying dry throughout the weekend and next week. That heat will help to exacerbate our drought problems, as warmer air pulls more water from streams, soil, and plants. This not only will shrink already low-water supplies, but can also harm crops and boost the risk for wildfires. Given this forecast, it would not be surprising to see our drought status get worse again with next Thursday’s update.