Effects of Rain Wash Downstream -- Drought Marches On

The weekly report from the U.S. Drought Monitor shows worsening conditions across the state as the effects of a late October rain abate. That's evidenced by river levels, such as those in the Upper Neuse and Tar rivers, falling back to the low flows observed before the rain, the weather service said. This week, 92 counties are suffering from the top three levels of drought: exceptional, extreme and severe. That's 10 more than last week. The state's other eight counties, all in the coastal plain and northern Piedmont regions, are experiencing moderate drought, the least severe level of drought in the four-category system. Fifty-eight counties are in the exceptional or extreme categories, up from 52 in those categories last week.
North Carolina needs rain - and lots of it - for conditions to improve. Much of the state needs 14 to 18 inches of rain over the next three months, and there's just a 10 percent to 15 percent of that happening. That wouldn't end the drought, just reduce exceptional drought conditions to moderate, the weather service said. To actually end the drought, the state needs as much as 24 inches of rain over the next three months. The odds of that happening are just 4 percent.