DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
1156 AM EDT THU JUL 3 2008
...SEVERE DROUGHT CONDITIONS RETURN TO SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA AND
NORTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA...
SYNOPSIS...
THE UNITED STATES DROUGHT MONITOR HAS CLASSIFIED ALL OR PARTS OF
BLADEN...COLUMBUS...DARLINGTON...DILLON...FLORENCE...MARLBORO AND
ROBESON COUNTIES IN SEVERE DROUGHT STATUS. ALL OR PARTS OF
BRUNSWICK...HORRY...MARION...NEW HANOVER AND PENDER COUNTIES HAVE
BEEN CLASSIFIED IN MODERATE DROUGHT. WILLIAMSBURG AND GEORGETOWN
COUNTIES HAVE BEEN CLASSIFIED AS ABNORMALLY DRY.
SUMMARY OF IMPACTS...
WATER RESTRICTIONS.
SOME MUNICIPALITIES AND WATER PROVIDERS AROUND THE AREA HAVE
ENACTED VOLUNTARY OR MANDATORY CONSERVATION MEASURES. CHECK WITH
YOUR LOCAL GOVERNMENT OR WATER SERVICE PROVIDER FOR DETAILS.
CLIMATE SUMMARY...
AFTER NEAR TO SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL FROM APPROXIMATELY
MID JANUARY THROUGH MID APRIL LED TO SOME RECOVERY IN THE
DROUGHT...RAINFALL OVER THE PAST TWO MONTHS HAS BEEN MUCH BELOW
NORMAL OVER LARGE PORTIONS OF THE AREA. THIS HAS RESULTED IN
WORSENING DROUGHT CONDITIONS OVER MUCH OF THE AREA. THE TABLES
BELOW DEPICT OBSERVED RAINFALL AND DEFICITS FOR SELECTED AUTOMATED
OBSERVING SITES AROUND THE AREA FOR THE PERIODS ENDING JULY 2ND
2008.
WILMINGTON NC
TOTAL NORMAL DEPARTURE PERCENT
RAINFALL VALUE FROM OF
NORMAL NORMAL
ONE MONTH (30 DAYS) 3.77 5.48 -1.71 69%
TWO MONTHS (60 DAYS) 8.16 9.85 -1.69 83%
THREE MONTHS (90 DAYS) 9.87 12.81 -2.94 77%
SIX MONTHS (180 DAYS) 20.80 25.11 -4.31 83%
ONE YEAR 39.43 56.97 -17.54 69%
FIFTEEN MONTHS 46.11 69.41 -23.30 66%
LUMBERTON NC
TOTAL NORMAL DEPARTURE PERCENT
RAINFALL VALUE FROM OF
NORMAL NORMAL
ONE MONTH (30 DAYS) 1.04 4.62 -3.58 23%
TWO MONTHS (60 DAYS) 3.29 8.55 -5.26 38%
THREE MONTHS (90 DAYS) 7.66 11.37 -3.71 67%
SIX MONTHS (180 DAYS) 15.84 23.28 -7.44 68%
ONE YEAR 26.95 47.94 -20.99 56%
FIFTEEN MONTHS 34.75 58.90 -24.15 59%
NORTH MYRTLE BEACH SC
TOTAL NORMAL DEPARTURE PERCENT
RAINFALL VALUE FROM OF
NORMAL NORMAL
ONE MONTH (30 DAYS) 3.44 3.75 -0.31 92%
TWO MONTHS (60 DAYS) 6.52 6.72 -0.20 97%
THREE MONTHS (90 DAYS) 9.11 9.24 -0.13 99%
SIX MONTHS (180 DAYS) 19.88 20.24 -0.36 98%
ONE YEAR 39.83 46.26 -6.43 86%
FIFTEEN MONTHS 46.22 55.10 -8.88 84%
FLORENCE SC
TOTAL NORMAL DEPARTURE PERCENT
RAINFALL VALUE FROM OF
NORMAL NORMAL
ONE MONTH (30 DAYS) 0.25 4.33 -4.08 6%
TWO MONTHS (60 DAYS) 3.80 7.63 -3.83 50%
THREE MONTHS (90 DAYS) 7.09 10.36 -3.27 68%
SIX MONTHS (180 DAYS) 16.89 21.40 -4.51 79%
ONE YEAR 30.95 44.72 -13.77 69%
FIFTEEN MONTHS 45.92 54.64 -8.72 84%
PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK...
BERMUDA HIGH PRESSURE WILL RIDGE INTO THE AREA FROM THE EAST
THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. THIS WILL BRING A RETURN OF MORE
TYPICAL SUMMERTIME CONDITIONS WITH HIGHER HUMIDITY AND A CHANCE OF
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EACH DAY. AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE MAY
ENHANCE THOSE CHANCES SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. WHILE WIDESPREAD
RAINFALL IS NOT EXPECTED THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK IT IS
POSSIBLE THAT MOST OF THE AREA WILL RECEIVE SOME RAIN DURING THE
PERIOD.
FOR THE FOLLOWING WEEK...NORMAL TO BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL IS
EXPECTED. FOR THE REST OF THE SUMMER...THE CLIMATE PREDICTION
CENTER IS CALLING FOR EQUAL CHANCES OF BELOW NORMAL...NORMAL AND
ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL.
HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK...
STREAMFLOW CONDITIONS.
ALL LONG TERM GAGING STATIONS ACROSS THE AREA ARE AT OR BELOW THE
10TH PERCENTILE FOR STREAMFLOW. THE ONE EXCEPTION IS THE WACCAMAW
RIVER BASIN WHERE GAGING STATIONS ARE IN THE NORMAL RANGE FOR THIS
TIME OF YEAR DUE TO RECENT RAINFALL OVER THE BASIN. GIVEN CURRENT
RAINFALL EXPECTATIONS...STREAMFLOW VALUES SHOULD REMAIN THE SAME
OR FALL DURING THE NEXT TWO WEEKS. IF NORMAL OR SLIGHTLY BELOW
NORMAL RAINFALL IS RECEIVED OVER THE REMAINDER OF THE
SUMMER...STREAMFLOW VALUES COULD RECOVER TO MORE SEASONAL LEVELS.
GROUNDWATER CONDITIONS.
GROUNDWATER MONITORING WELLS NEAR SOUTHPORT NORTH CAROLINA AND
TIMMONSVILLE SOUTH CAROLINA ARE INDICATING AQUIFER LEVELS THAT ARE
BELOW TO MUCH BELOW NORMAL FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR.
SOIL MOISTURE CONDITIONS.
ACCORDING TO THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER...SOIL MOISTURE LEVELS
ACROSS THE AREA ARE BELOW TO MUCH BELOW NORMAL.
NEXT ISSUANCE DATE...
THIS PRODUCT WILL BE UPDATED ON FRIDAY AUGUST 1 2008 OR SOONER IF
NECESSARY IN RESPONSE TO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN CONDITIONS.
RELATED WEBSITES...
OUR LOCAL DROUGHT PAGE...
HTTP://WWW.ERH.NOAA.GOV/ILM/HYDRO/DROUGHT.SHTML
US DROUGHT MONITOR...
HTTP://WWW.DROUGHT.UNL.EDU/DM/MONITOR.HTML
NOAA DROUGHT PAGE...
HTTP://WWW.DROUGHT.NOAA.GOV/
CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER...
HTTP://WWW.CPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/
NATIONAL INTEGRATED DROUGHT INFORMATION SYSTEM...
HTTP://WWW.DROUGHT.GOV/PORTAL/SERVER.PT
NC DROUGHT MANAGEMENT ADVISORY COUNCIL...
HTTP://WWW.NCDROUGHT.ORG/
SC DROUGHT INFORMATION...
HTTP://WWW.DNR.SC.GOV/CLIMATE/SCO/DROUGHT/DROUGHT_CURRENT_INFO.PHP
US GEOLOGICAL SURVEY...
HTTP://WATER.USGS.GOV/
US ARMY CORPS WILMINGTON DISTRICT...
HTTP://EPEC.SAW.USACE.ARMY.MIL/
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...
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 CLIMATOLOGISTS AND THE NATIONAL
DROUGHT MITIGATION CENTER. INFORMATION FOR THIS STATEMENT HAS BEEN
GATHERED FROM NWS AND FAA OBSERVATION SITES...STATE COOPERATIVE
EXTENSION SERVICES...THE USDA...USACE AND USGS.
QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS...
IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ABOUT THIS DROUGHT INFORMATION
STATEMENT...PLEASE CONTACT...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
2015 GARDNER DRIVE
WILMINGTON NORTH CAROLINA 28405
PHONE: 910-762-4289
ILM.WEBMASTER@NOAA.GOV
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RAN