Drought Update October 3, 2019 – Watauga & Avery In Severe Drought, Ashe Moderate

Last Updated on November 20, 2019 6:00 pm

In the latest drought update, Watauga and Avery counties have now been placed in the severe catorgory while Ashe remains in moderate drought.

The weekly update, put out on Tuesday by the North Carolina Drought Management Council, shows 9 counties in Severe Drought, there were none in last week's update.

48 counties are in moderate drought, that's up by three from last week. 12 counties are in abnormally dry status, last week it stood at 22.

Drought categories are based on streamflow, groundwater levels, the amount of water stored in reservoirs, soil moisture, the time of year and other relevant factors for assessing the extent and severity of dry conditions.

For the contiguous 48 states, the U.S. Drought Monitor showed 19.28 percent of the area in moderate drought or worse, compared with 17.37 percent a week earlier.
Drought now affects 60,191,797 people, compared with 52,818,428 a week earlier.

For all 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico, the U.S. Drought Monitor showed 16.96 percent of the area in moderate drought or worse, compared with 16.23 percent a week earlier.
Drought now affects 60,851,009 people, compared with 53,942,233 a week earlier.

D2 Severe Drought

Avery

Cherokee

Clay

Gaston

Macon

Mitchell

Stokes

Watauga

Yancey

Total: 9

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D1 Moderate Drought

Alamance

Alexander

Alleghany

Ashe

Buncombe

Burke

Cabarrus

Caldwell

Caswell

Catawba

Chatham

Cleveland

Davidson

Davie

Durham

Forsyth

Franklin

Graham

Granville

Guilford

Haywood

Henderson

Iredell

Jackson

Lee

Lincoln

Madison

McDowell

Mecklenburg

Montgomery

Moore

Orange

Person

Polk

Randolph

Richmond

Rockingham

Rowan

Rutherford

Scotland

Stanly

Surry

Transylvania

Union

Vance

Warren

Wilkes

Yadkin

Total: 48

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D0 Abnormally Dry

Anson

Cumberland

Halifax

Harnett

Hoke

Johnston

Nash

Northampton

Robeson

Swain

Wake

Wilson

Total: 12