Recent rain has helped drought conditions in the Charlotte area, but the state overall is far from recovered. All 100 North Carolina counties are still in a drought, although conditions in the hardest-hit counties have improved.
Assistant State Climatologist Corey Davis lays out an ideal path for North Carolina to recover from the drought.
“Getting maybe an extra inch per week compared to what we usually see this time of year. If we could get that much rain over the next two to three months, then we could be on our way out of this drought as the summer ends,” Davis said.
Charlotte received about 5 inches of rain in May, while Raleigh saw about 2. Some areas south of Asheville received around 10 inches in one week, causing flash flooding. The deeper groundwater reserves are still running low. Even with recent rainfall, mandatory water restrictions remain in effect across the Charlotte region.
