CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The brand new United States Drought Monitor was issued Thursday morning, showing a slight improvement across both North and South Carolina.
Despite recent rain, it's estimated 10,381,977 people live in drought areas in both states. North Carolina accounts for the largest impact of severe drought.
South Carolina drought
The state of South Carolina saw a drop in its overall abnormally dry (D0) numbers going from 94% last week to 89% this week. The moderate drought (D1) also dropped by 21% and the severe drought (D2) dropped by 6%.
1,894,437 people are living within drought conditions in South Carolina.
North Carolina drought
While North Carolina’s improvement was much smaller, the severe drought dropped from 51% to 42%. However, the moderate drought did increase by 3% while the abnormally dry conditions stayed relatively steady.
8,487,540 people are living within drought conditions in North Carolina.
Despite recent rain, drought remains
It’s no surprise the Carolinas got some help from multiple days of measurable rainfall. Between Dec. 8 and 11, the city's official weather observation unit at Charlotte Douglas International Airport recorded 0.97 inches. By contrast, that's almost what we received the entire month of November.
Data from NOAA shows we still need 11.26 inches of rain accumulation to resolve the drought and get back to normal. With approximately two weeks left in 2021, Charlotte has a rainfall deficit of 7.17 inches.
With a dry stretch forecast for next week, there are only a few opportunities to see rain over the next 7 - 10 days.
There are no weather systems in the foreseeable short term to make up the current deficit.
