DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1120 AM EDT THU JUN 19 2008
..SEARING HEAT INTENSIFIES DROUGHT CONDITIONS ...
SYNOPSIS...
HIGHER THAN NORMAL TEMPERATURES NOT ONLY SET NEW RECORDS BUT ALSO
INTENSIFIED DROUGHT CONDITIONS ALONG THE NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA
BORDER MAINLY IN THE PIEDMONT AREAS. RAINFALL ACROSS THE WESTERN
CAROLINAS WAS SCATTERED AT BEST LEADING TO RECORD RAINFALL DEFICITS
FOR THE YEAR.
SUMMARY OF IMPACTS...
VOLUNTARY WATER RESTRICTIONS ARE IN EFFECT FOR MOST WATER SYSTEMS
ACROSS NORTH CAROLINA. MANDATORY RESTRICTIONS ARE IN EFFECT FOR
ALEXANDER AND PARTS OF BURKE...CHEROKEE...GASTON...CALDWELL...
MECKLENBURG...CATAWBA...CABARRUS...TRANSYLVANIA... JACKSON...
IREDELL... MADISON...LINCOLN AND ROWAN COUNTIES.
VOLUNTARY WATER RESTRICTIONS ARE IN EFFECT FOR MOST WATER SYSTEMS
ACROSS SOUTH CAROLINA. MANDATORY RESTRICTIONS ARE NOW IN EFFECT FOR
THE TOWNS OF WALHALLA...GREENWOOD...CHESTER...SALEM...ROCK
CREEK...SANTUCK...AND MOST LOCATIONS IN YORK COUNTY.
VOLUNTARY WATER RESTRICTIONS ARE IN EFFECT FOR MOST WATER SYSTEMS IN
NORTHEAST GEORGIA.
SOIL MOISTURE...
92 PERCENT OF THE TOP SOIL MOISTURE IN SOUTH CAROLINA IS SHORT TO
VERY SHORT. NORTH CAROLINA IS 79 PERCENT AND GEORGIA IS 71 PERCENT.
GROUNDWATER CONDITIONS...
HERE ARE THE CURRENT WELL WATER LEVELS.....
LOCATION LEVELS (FEET BELOW SURFACE)
CURRENT RECORD DATE OF OCCURRENCE
AVERY CNTY NR LINVILLE NC 2.30 FT 2.74 9/13/2002
DAVIE CNTY MOCKSVILLE NC 22.43 FT 23.32 8/24/2002
IREDELL CNTY TURNERSVILLE NC 28.64 FT 24.39 6/12/2007
ROWAN CNTY BARBER NC 15.44 FT 11.15 9/15/2002
TRANSYLVANIA CNTY BLANTYRE NC 32.44 FT 40.01 12/27/2007
SWAIN CNTY NR BRYSON CITY NC 6.77 FT 7.43 10/16/2007
HAYWOOD CNTY NR CRUSO NC 5.81 FT 6.90 1/05/1998
OCONEE CNTY TAMASSEE SC 30.72 FT 31.83 9/14/2002
ANDERSON CNTY WILLIAMSTON SC 3.56 FT 5.68 9/12/2002
SPARTANBURG CNTY CROFT SP SC 46.42 FT 45.94 2/23/2003
RIVER AND STREAM FLOW CONDITIONS...
IN NORTH CAROLINA...OF THE 41 REAL-TIME REPORTING SITES IN WESTERN
PART OF THE STATE...1 SITE WAS NEAR NORMAL RANGE...2 SITES WERE 10 TO
24 PERCENT OF NORMAL RANGE AND 38 SITES WERE LESS THAN 10 PERCENT OF
NORMAL FLOW.
IN SOUTH CAROLINA...OF THE 14 REAL-TIME REPORTING SITES IN THE
UPSTATE... 1 SITE WAS NEAR NORMAL RANGE... 1 SITE WAS IN THE 10 TO 25
PERCENT RANGE AND 12 SITES WERE LESS THAN 10 PERCENT OF NORMAL FLOW
RANGE.
IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA...OF THE 4 REAL-TIME REPORTING SITES...4 SITES
WERE INDICATING LESS THAN 10 PERCENT OF NORMAL FLOW.
CURRENT LAKE LEVELS....
LOCATION CURRENT LEVEL NORMAL LEVEL
HARTWELL DAM 650.45 FT 659.67 FT.
RUSSELL DAM 473.33 FT 474.90 FT.
JOCASSEE DAM 74.35 FT 99.50 FT.
KEOWEE DAM 95.29 FT 99.00 FT.
MOST OF THE LAKES ON THE CATAWBA RIVER REMAIN AT STAGE 3 DROUGHT
LEVELS. DURING THE PAST WEEK THE LAKE LEVELS HAVE RISEN SOME AND
MOST ARE AT OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL LEVELS.
IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA...LAKE LEVELS ALONG THE TALLULAH RIVER ARE AT
OR SLIGHTLY BELOW FULL POOL.
AGRICULTURE IMPACTS...
PERCENT OF PASTURE IN POOR TO VERY POOR CONDITIONS ARE AS
FOLLOWS...AS OF JUNE 15... 62 PERCENT IN SOUTH CAROLINA...35 IN
GEORGIA...AND 16 IN NORTH CAROLINA.
FIRE DANGER HAZARDS...
OBSERVED FIRE DANGER LEVELS RANGE FROM MODERATE TO HIGH ACROSS THE AREA.
CLIMATE SUMMARY...
RAINFALL OVER THE PAST 7 DAYS (JUNE 11 THRU 18) RANGED FROM ONE QUARTER
INCH TO 2 INCHES...WITH THE HIGHER AMOUNTS BEING IN ISOLATED AREAS.
RAINFALL DEFICITS OVER THE PAST 365 DAYS INDICATED RECORD LEVELS WITH
THE NORTH CAROLINA PIEDMONT AREAS RANGING FROM 11.89 TO 18.39 INCHES
BELOW NORMAL. IN NORTHWEST SOUTH CAROLINA RAINFALL WAS 20.44 INCHES
BELOW NORMAL AND IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA IT WAS 115.06 BELOW NORMAL.
PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK...
6 TO 10 DAY FORECAST...JUNE 24 TO JUNE 28 2008 INDICATES ABOVE NORMAL
TEMPERATURES AND EQUAL CHANCES OF BELOW OR ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION
IN THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA AREAS.
30 DAY OUTLOOK...MID JUNE TO MID JULY
INDICATES EQUAL CHANCES OF ABOVE OR BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND
PRECIPITATION.
90 DAY OUTLOOK...JUNE THROUGH AUGUST...
THE OUTLOOK INDICATES SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND EQUAL
CHANCES OF BELOW OR ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION.
HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK...
THE LA NINA IS EXPECTED TO WEAKEN AS THE SUMMER PROGRESSES. THUS THE
DROUGHT IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE ACROSS THE AREA.
6 TO 10 DAY FORECAST...MAR 18 TO MAR 22 2008 INDICATES BELOW NORMAL
TEMPERATURES AND EQUAL CHANCES OF BELOW OR ABOVE PRECIPITATION
AMOUNTS IN WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA AREAS.
30 DAY OUTLOOK...APRIL
INDICATES ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE AREA AND EQUAL CHANCES
OF BELOW OR ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION.
90 DAY OUTLOOK...APRIL THROUGH JUNE...
THE OUTLOOK INDICATES SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND EQUAL
CHANCES OF BELOW OR ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION.
HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK...
THE LA NINA IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN ACTIVE AND MAY BECOME STRONGER THIS
SPRING INTO THE SUMMER MONTHS. THUS THE DROUGHT IS EXPECTED TO
CONTINUE ACROSS THE AREA.
NEXT ISSUANCE DATE...
THIS PRODUCT WILL BE UPDATED ON JULY 10 2008 OR SOONER IF
NECESSARY IN RESPONSE TO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN CONDITIONS.
RELATED WEB SITES...
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON CURRENT DROUGHT CONDITIONS MAY BE FOUND AT
THE FOLLOWING WEB ADDRESSES
U. S. DROUGHT MONITOR...
http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html
NOAA DROUGHT PAGE...
http://www.drought.noaa.gov/
NORTH CAROLINA DROUGHT PAGE...
http://www.ncwater.org/drought/
SOUTH CAROLINA DROUGHT PAGE...
http://www.dnr.sc.gov/climate/sco/Drought/drought_current_info.php
ADDITIONAL RIVER INFORMATION
NWS...
http://www.weather.gov/water/
USGS...
http://water.usgs.gov/waterwatch/
CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER...
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...
THE DROUGHT MONITOR IS A MULTI-AGENCY EFFORT INVOLVING NOAA'S
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AND NATIONAL CLIMATIC DATA CENTER...THE
USDA...STATE AND REGIONAL CENTER CLIMATOLOGIST AND THE NATIONAL
DROUGHT MITIGATION CENTER. INFORMATION FOR THIS STATEMENT HAS BEEN
GATHERED FROM NWS AND FAA OBSERVATION SITES...USDA...USFS...USCE ...
DUKE ENERGY...GA POWER AND STATE CLIMATE OFFICES.
QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS...
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ABOUT THIS DROUGHT STATEMENT...
PLEASE CONTACT...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
1549 GSP DRIVE
GREER SC 29651
PHONE 864-848-3859
GSP.webmaster@noaa.gov