000 AXUS72 KCAE 191938 DGTCAE GAC033-073-181-189-245-SCC003-009-011-017-025-027-037-039-055-057-061 -063-065-071-075-079-081-085-201200- DROUGHT STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 230 PM EST THU NOV 19 2009 ...RAINS FROM THE REMNANTS OF TROPICAL STORM IDA ENDED MODERATE AND SEVERE DROUGHT IN NORTHEAST AND NORTHERN CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA. SYNOPSIS... HEAVY RAINS OVER THE TWO WEEKS LED TO IMPROVEMENT IN DROUGHT CONDITIONS ACROSS NORTHEAST AND NORTHERN CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA. NORMAL TO AS MUCH AS 4 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL AMOUNTS FELL ACROSS SOUTH CAROLINA AND EAST CENTRAL GEORGIA DURING THAT TIME PERIOD WITH THE HEAVIEST RAINS OCCURRING OVER SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA AND OVER THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF SOUTH CAROLINA. ONLY NORMAL AMOUNTS FELL ALONG THE ATLANTIC COAST AND UP INTO NORTH CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA. HEAVY RAINS ALSO OCCURRED IN THE UPSTATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND JUST SOUTH OF CHARLOTTE NORTH CAROLINA. HEAVY RAINS LED TO RIVER FLOODING LAST WEEK ON THE CONGAREE... ENOREE...SALUDA...BROAD AND THE PEE DEE RIVERS AS WELL AS THE STEVENS CREEK. EVAPORATION RATES HAVE BEEN RUNNING LESS THAN A TENTH OF AN INCH OVER THE PAST TWO WEEKS AS WELL AND VEGETATION IS NOW DORMANT ACROSS THE AREA. THESE TWO FACTORS WILL DECREASE DEMAND ON SOIL MOISTURE. SUMMARY OF IMPACTS... NO CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE TO THE DROUGHT DESIGNATION DECLARED BY THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA DROUGHT RESPONSE COMMITTEE SINCE OCTOBER 16 2009. YORK...CHESTER...FAIRFIELD...LANCASTER...CHESTERFIELD KERSHAW ...DARLINGTON...MARLBORO AND DILLON COUNTIES CONTINUE TO BE IN INCIPIENT DROUGHT. THE STATUS OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTIES IN INCIPIENT DROUGHT IN OUR AREA CAN BE FOUND BELOW. FAIRFIELD...KERSHAW... LANCASTER AND CHESTERFIELD COUNTIES ARE IN INCIPIENT DROUGHT. THE LATEST WATER CONSERVATION ACTIVITIES UNDERWAY IN SOUTH CAROLINA CAN BE FOUND AT THE SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES WEBSITE AT: WWW.DNR.SC.GOV/PLS/DROUGHT/DROUGHT_RESTRICT ALL IN LOWER CASE LETTERS. SOIL MOISTURE CONDITIONS... THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR VALID ON NOVEMBER 19 2009 FOR DATA THROUGH NOVEMBER 17 2009 REMOVED SEVERE...D2 AND MODERATE...D1 DROUGHT FROM THE AREA. ONLY ABNORMALLY DRY...D0 DROUGHT CONDITIONS REMAIN IN SOUTH CAROLINA. D0...ABNORMALLY DRY CONDITIONS COVERED A SMALL PART OF NORTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...MUCH OF CHESTERFIELD...ALL OF MARLBORO...MARION...FLORENCE...DARLINGTON COUNTIES AND EXTREME EASTERN SUMTER...EXTREME NORTHERN WILLIAMSBURG AND THE NORTHEAST HALF OF LEE COUNTY IN SOUTH CAROLINA. THE REST OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND THE CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER BASIN IN GEORGIA WERE NOT IN DROUGHT. GROUND WATER CONDITIONS... ALL OF THE GROUND WATER NETWORK MAINTAINED BY THE UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY USED IN THIS REPORT SHOWED IMPROVEMENT OR NO CHANGE SINCE THE LAST REPORT. HOWEVER LEVELS STILL REMAIN IN THE BELOW NORMAL TO RECORD LOW RANGE. A HIGHER NUMBER MEANS A LOWER WATER TABLE AND THEREFORE LESS GROUND WATER. BAKER CREEK STATE PARK WELL BERKELEY COUNTY AIRPORT NOVEMBER 04 2009 40.62 FEET 60.87 FEET NOVEMBER 19 2009 40.40 FEET REC LOW 60.68 FEET 10-24 PCTLE DIFFERENCE PLUS 0.22 FEET PLUS 0.19 FEET JACKSON SC CHESTER COUNTY NOVEMBER 04 2009 163.96 FEET 91.78 FEET NOVEMBER 19 2009 163.88 FEET REC LOW 91.78 FEET 10-24 PCTLE DIFFERENCE PLUS 0.08 FEET NO CHG 0.00 FEET RIVER AND STREAMFLOW CONDITIONS... OVER THE PAST 7 DAYS...ENDING ON NOVEMBER 18 2009...AVERAGE OR ABOVE AVERAGE FLOW CONDITIONS WERE REPORTED OVER ALL OF SOUTH CAROLINA. A SNAPSHOT OF FLOW OF SELECTED RANKED GAGES ON NOVEMBER 19 2009 INDICATED FLOWS 175 PERCENT OF MEDIAN FLOW. RANKED GAGES IN SOUTH CAROLINA ON NOVEMBER 19 2009 INDICATE HIGHER FLOW THAN THAT REPORTED ON NOVEMBER 4 2009 WITH ONLY 9 PERCENT REPORTING BELOW NORMAL FLOW...LESS THAT 25 PERCENT OF MEDIAN FLOW. OVER 50 PERCENT REPORTED GREATER THAN NORMAL FLOW...75 PERCENTILE OR GREATER FLOW. RESERVOIRS... LEVELS ON SELECTED RESERVOIRS HAVE RISEN SIGNIFICANTLY EXCEPT LAKE WATEREE SINCE NOVEMBER 4 2009. LAKE RUSSELL LAKE THURMOND NOVEMBER 18 2009 472.91 FEET 330.29 FEET NOVEMBER 04 2009 472.35 FEET 328.17 FEET DIFFERENCE PLUS 0.56 FEET PLUS 2.12 FEET LAKE GREENWOOD LAKE MURRAY NOVEMBER 19 2009 98.73 FEET 357.45 FEET NOVEMBER 04 2009 97.14 FEET 357.05 FEET DIFFERENCE PLUS 1.59 FEET PLUS 0.40 FEET LAKE MARION LAKE WATEREE NOVEMBER 19 2009 76.37 FEET 96.31 FEET NOVEMBER 04 2009 73.78 FEET 97.16 FEET DIFFERENCE PLUS 2.59 FEET MINUS 0.85 FEET THE LEVEL ON LAKE THURMOND IS NOW 5.4 FEET ABOVE NORMAL AND THE LEVEL OF LAKE RUSSELL IS NOW 0.6 FEET BELOW NORMAL FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. LAKE WATEREE IS 1.5 FEET ABOVE THE TARGET LEVEL OF 95.7 FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. DATA FOR THIS SEGMENT WAS GATHERED FROM THE UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY...THE UNITED STATES ARMY CORP OF ENGINEERS AND DUKE ENERGY. CLIMATE SUMMARY... PRECIPITATION FROM JANUARY 01 2009 THROUGH NOVEMBER 18 2009 STATION PRECIPITATION DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL PERCENT OF NORMAL COLUMBIA SC 44.48 INCHES PLUS 0.79 INCHES 102 PERCENT AUGUSTA GA 40.60 INCHES PLUS 0.22 INCHES 101 PERCENT PRECIPITATION FROM NOVEMBER 01 TO NOVEMBER 18 2009 COLUMBIA SC 3.09 INCHES PLUS 1.41 INCHES 184 PERCENT AUGUSTA GA 4.60 INCHES PLUS 2.98 INCHES 284 PERCENT PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK... CURRENT FORECAST OUT TO 7 DAYS... PROGRESSIVE FLOW ACROSS THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES WILL BRING A GOOD RAIN MAKER TO THE SOUTHEAST UNITED STATES THIS WEEKEND. POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR OVER ONE INCH RAINS MAINLY THIS SUNDAY. IT SHOULD BE DRY AFTER THAT FROM TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. THE 6 TO 10 DAY OUTLOOK VALID FROM NOVEMBER 24 TO NOVEMBER 28 2009 CALLS FOR A 40 TO 50 PERCENT CHANCE OF BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND A 40 TO 50 PERCENT CHANCE OF ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION ACROSS BOTH SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA. THE 8 TO 14 DAY OUTLOOK VALID FROM NOVEMBER 26 TO DECEMBER 02 2009 CALLS FOR A 50 PERCENT CHANCE OF BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES ACROSS ALL OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA. THERE IS A 40 TO 50 PERCENT CHANCE OF ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION ACROSS ALL OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA. THE OUTLOOK FOR DECEMBER 2009 CALLS FOR AN EQUAL CHANCE OF ABOVE...BELOW OR NORMAL TEMPERATURES ACROSS ALL OF GEORGIA AND SOUTH CAROLINA. THERE IS A 33 PERCENT CHANCE OF ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST HALF OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA. THERE IS A AN EQUAL CHANCE OF ABOVE...NORMAL OR BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE NORTHWEST HALF OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA. THE 3 MONTH OUTLOOK FOR DECEMBER 2009 AND JANUARY AND FEBRUARY 2010 CALLS FOR A 40 PERCENT CHANCE OF BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURE ACROSS ALL OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA. THERE IS A 33 PERCENT CHANCE OF ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST THIRD OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA...EQUAL CHANCES OF ABOVE...NORMAL OR BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE CENTRAL THIRD OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA AND A 33 PERCENT CHANCE OF BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE NORTHWEST THIRD OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA. HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK... MEDIUM RANGE OUTLOOKS GENERALLY FAVOR ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION AND BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES ACROSS CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA AND THE CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA. LONGER RANGE OUTLOOKS ARE MORE UNCERTAIN BUT AT LEAST NORMAL PRECIPITATION CAN BE EXPECTED ACROSS A GOOD PORTION OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA.. THESE OUTLOOKS COMBINED WITH LOW EVAPORATION RATES AND DORMANT VEGETATION FAVOR CONTINUED IMPROVEMENT IN THE DROUGHT AREA. THE SEVERE AND MODERATE DROUGHT HAS ENDED SO THIS WILL BE THE LAST DROUGHT STATEMENT FOR THIS DRY EVENT. RELATED WEB SITES... ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE CURRENT DROUGHT MAY BE FOUND AT THE FOLLOWING WEB ADDRESSES /USE LOWER CASE LETTERS/: U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR...HTTP://DROUGHT.UNL.EDU/DM/MONITOR.HTML NOAA DROUGHT PAGE...HTTP://WWW.DROUGHT.NOAA.GOV SOUTH CAROLINA STATE CLIMATOLOGIST... HTTP://WWW.DNR.SC.GOV/CLIMATE /SCO NWS COLUMBIA DROUGHT PAGE...HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/CAE/DROUGHT.PHP ADDITIONAL RIVER AND LAKE INFORMATION: NWS...HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/AHPS USACE...HTTP:/WATER.SAS.USACE.ARMY.MIL/HOME USGS...HTTP://WWW.USGS.GOV ACKNOWLEDGMENTS... THE UNITED STATES DROUGHT MONITOR IS A MULTI-AGENCY EFFORT INVOLVING NOAA/NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AND THE NATIONAL CLIMATIC DATA CENTER...THE USDA...STATE AND REGIONAL CENTER CLIMATOLOGISTS AND THE NATIONAL DROUGHT MITIGATION CENTER. INFORMATION FOR THIS STATEMENT HAS BEEN GATHERED FROM NWS AND FAA OBSERVATION SITES...STATE COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE...THE USDA...USACE AND THE USGS. QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS... IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ABOUT THIS DROUGHT STATEMENT PLEASE CONTACT... THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE 2909 AVIATION WAY WEST COLUMBIA SC 29170 PHONE: 803-822-8135 INTERNET ADDRESS W-CAE.WEBMASTER@NOAA.GOV $$