Recent rain improves drought for the first time in over a month

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Recent rain has helped mitigate drought conditions in North Carolina.

The latest update from the U.S. Drought Monitor had its first slight improvement since a flash drought started in mid-June. 

Every Thursday the U.S. Drought Monitor releases a map. It outlines the status of the drought on this scale:

•  None
•  D0 (Abnormally Dry)
•  D1 (Moderate Drought)
•  D2 (Severe Drought)
•  D3 (Extreme Drought)
•  D4 (Exceptional Drought)

Here are the numbers for North Carolina and South Carolina as of July 16, 2024:

• 98.5% either abnormally dry to under an official drought (down from 100%)
• 68.46% under moderate drought or greater (down from 88.01%)
• 21.29% under severe drought or greater (increased by 1.19%)
• 1.34% under extreme drought (increased by 0.48%)

• 99.46% either abnormally dry to under an official drought (no change)
• 72.64% under moderate drought or greater (only a 0.09% improvement)
• 35.59% under severe drought or greater (increased by 5.61%)
• 6.13% under extreme drought (increased by 0.58%)

RAISE YOUR WEATHER IQ: What is the drought monitor?

The abnormally hot start to July has tamed over the last week. What were skyrocketing temperatures have lowered some. 

From July 18 through July 23, high temperatures were in the 80s five of the six days. Charlotte Douglas International Airport, where official weather measurements are taken for the city of Charlotte, measured 2.34 inches of rain. Other locations across the greater Charlotte area received over four inches of rain during this same period. 

Improvements were seen in every drought category. 

• There are now no areas of the state in extreme drought status. 
• Over 22% of the state has no status for drought or even pre-drought (abnormally dry).
• 77.8% of the state is either abnormally dry or under an official drought (down 20.7%)
• The most significant improvement is now only 26.25% of N.C. is under a moderate or severe drought
• Severe drought is down from over 21% to less than 4%

There is barely a noticeable change for South Carolina. Moderate, severe and extreme drought only dropped a fraction of a percent since the last update. Still over 99% of the state is under some drought condition.

• Over 27% is abnormally dry
• Over 36% is under a moderate drought
• Just under 30% is under a severe drought
• Nearly 6% of the South Carolina is under an extreme drought

The contract between North Carolina and South Carolina is because North Carolina saw significantly more heavy downpours. This was especially true in the area between Charlotte and Raleigh. South Carolina saw just enough rain to prevent the drought from worsening but not enough to make any significant improvements.

Contact Chris Mulcahy at cmulcahy@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X, Instagram and TikTok.

WCNC Charlotte’s Weather IQ YouTube channel gives detailed explainers from the WCNC Weather Impact Team meteorologists to help you learn and understand weather, climate and science.