Drought continues its disappearing act
The N.C. Drought Management Advisory Council publishes a new map every Thursday at ncdrought.org. N.C. Drought Management Advisory Council map
Severe drought is gone from North Carolina and moderate drought barely holding on after an extraordinarily rainy first half of January.
According to the most recent drought map, based on data collected through 8 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 16, statewide only four counties remain in drought: Macon, Graham, Cherokee and Clay counties are still experiencing moderate drought. Another 10 western counties are abnormally dry. These include Haywood, Jackson, Swain, Buncombe and Madison counties. The remaining 86 counties in North Carolina are at or above typical moisture levels. The map looked much different just two weeks earlier, when more than half of the state was still drier than normal, including five western counties in severe drought.
After a bone-dry fall, Western North Carolina is seeing a much wetter than normal January. So far this month, Asheville and Waynesville have received close to double the typical amount of rain.
— Holly Kays, Outdoors Editor
