Southeast Drought Summary

Hurricane Florence brought record rainfall to both North and South Carolina during this drought week. In addition to the record rainfall over and near the coastal areas that could be measured in feet, the very slow moving storm dropped several inches of rain over the abnormally dry (D0) and moderate (D1) drought areas far inland, effectively alleviating all dryness from the affected regions. The system did not bring much rainfall farther south or west, however, and with little precipitation and temperatures in the 90s, parts of northern and northeastern Alabama and much of Georgia continued to dry. Moderate drought was expanded in Alabama and D0 was expanded to the south and eastward into northwestern Georgia. Abnormal dryness grew slightly in east central Georgia, with two small areas of D1 introduced in that area. Abnormal dryness was also introduced to southeastern South Carolina and northeastern Georgia, which missed the rains from Florence and have been drying out over the past two months or so due to the lack of rain and heat. With a continuation of adequate to wet conditions, no changes were made this week to the depictions in Virginia and Florida.

Read the full drought summary