Good Thursday afternoon,
One of the big weather stories for the month of June has been the hot and dry weather that has taken over. As a result, a flash drought has taken over the Eastern US including the Carolina region and now we are officially in the opening stages of drought conditions.
The drought index was released Thursday morning and all of North Carolina is considered at least Abnormally Dry (D0) with Moderate Drought (D1) conditions expanding from Virginia southward into the Triad, Triangle and far eastern North Carolina.
Locally it has been a dry month as the bulk of the region has received only 20-50% of normal rainfall for the month of June.
Monthly Rainfall Data: Through 6/27
Lincolnton: 0.66 (3.90)
Morganton: 0.76 (4.35)
Tryon: 0.87 (4.92)
Hickory Regional Airport: 1.08 (3.96)
Marion: 1.10 (4.99)
Shelby: 1.34 (4.07)
Forest City: 2.07 (4.52)
Lake Lure: 2.12 (4.82)
Lenoir: 3.36 (4.43)
The encouraging news is that we do have precipitation chances getting back into the forecast through the upcoming weekend. Highest chances look to occur on Sunday. While it will not totally alleviate the current drought the hope is that it will slow the momentum.
