DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
819 AM EDT THU MAY 08 2008
..DROUGHT TIGHTENS IT GRIP ON THE UPSTATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA...
SYNOPSIS...
THE LACK OF RAIN ACROSS THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA
HAS LEAD TO SOME CHANGES FOR THE WORSE ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS OF SOUTH
CAROLINA INTO THE LOWER PIEDMONT AND FOOTHILL AREAS. RAINFALL
AMOUNTS WERE GENERALLY LESS THAN ONE TENTH OF AN INCH. THERE WAS VERY
LITTLE IMPROVEMENT IN THE WATER LEVELS AT WELL SITES AND TOP SOIL
CONDITIONS ARE DRYING OUT FAST.
SUMMARY OF IMPACTS...
VOLUNTARY WATER RESTRICTIONS ARE IN EFFECT FOR MOST WATER SYSTEMS
ACROSS NORTH CAROLINA TO INCLUDE THE TOWN OF MARS HILL. MANDATORY
RESTRICTIONS ARE NOW IN EFFECT FOR TOWNS OF TAYLORSVILLE...GASTONIA
AND NEWTON.
VOLUNTARY WATER RESTRICTIONS ARE IN EFFECT FOR MOST WATER SYSTEMS
ACROSS SOUTH CAROLINA TO INCLUDE ANDERSON...GREENVILLE...OCONEE AND
PICKENS COUNTIES . MANDATORY RESTRICTIONS ARE NOW IN EFFECT FOR
THE TOWNS OF
GREENWOOD...CHESTER...SALEM...NINTEY-SIX...WAHALLA...UNION...ROCK
CREEK...SANTUCK...AND MOST LOCATIONS IN YORK COUNTY.
VOLUNTARY WATER RESTRICTIONS ARE IN EFFECT FOR MOST WATER SYSTEMS IN
NORTHEAST GEORGIA.
SOIL MOISTURE...
TOP SOIL MOISTURE PERCENT OF STATE THAT WAS SHORT TO VERY SHORT AS
OF MAY 4, 2008 IS AS FOLLOWS:
NORTH CAROLINA 14 PERCENT
SOUTH CAROLINA 43 PERCENT
GEORGIA 49 PERCENT
GROUNDWATER CONDITIONS...
HERE ARE THE CURRENT WELL WATER LEVELS.....
LOCATION LEVELS (FEET BELOW SURFACE)
CURRENT RECORD DATE OF
OCCURRENCE
AVERY CNTY NR LINVILLE NC 2.20 FT 2.74 9/13/2002
DAVIE CNTY MOCKSVILLE NC 21.23 FT 23.32 8/24/2002
IREDELL CNTY TURNERSVILLE NC 29.21 FT 24.39 6/12/2007
ROWAN CNTY BARBER NC 14.53 FT 11.15 9/15/2002
TRANSYLVANIA CNTY BLANTYRE NC 32.26 FT 40.01 12/27/2007
SWAIN CNTY NR BRYSON CITY NC 6.10 FT 7.43 10/16/2007
HAYWOOD CNTY NR CRUSO NC 5.15 FT 6.90 1/05/1998
OCONEE CNTY TAMASSEE SC 30.29 FT 31.83 9/14/2002
ANDERSON CNTY WILLIAMSTON SC 3.46 FT 5.68 9/12/2002
SPARTANBURG CNTY CROFT SP SC 46.11 FT 45.94 2/23/2003
RIVER AND STREAM FLOW CONDITIONS...
AS OF MAY 8 2008
IN NORTH CAROLINA...OF THE 41 REAL-TIME REPORTING SITES IN WESTERN
PART OF THE STATE...3 SITES WERE 25 TO 75 PERCENT OF NORMAL. 7 SITES
WAS 10 TO 24 PERCENT OF NORMAL RANGE AND 31 SITES WERE 10 PERCENT OR
LESS OF NORMAL FLOW.
IN SOUTH CAROLINA...OF THE 14 REAL-TIME REPORTING SITES IN THE
UPSTATE... 2 SITES WERE IN THE 10 TO 25 PERCENT RANGE. 12 SITES WERE
10 PERCENT OR LESS OF NORMAL FLOW.
IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA...OF THE 4 REAL-TIME REPORTING SITES...4 SITES
ARE IN THE 10 TO 25 PERCENT RANGE. 12 SITES WERE 10 PERCENT OR LESS
OF NORMAL FLOW.
CURRENT LAKE LEVELS....
LOCATION CURRENT LEVEL NORMAL LEVEL
HARTWELL DAM 651.89 FT 659.67 FT.
RUSSELL DAM 473.96 FT 474.90 FT.
JOCASSEE DAM 76.62 FT 98.70 FT.
KEOWEE DAM 95.18 FT 98.30 FT.
MOST OF THE LAKES ON THE CATAWBA RIVER REMAIN AT STAGE 3 DROUGHT
LEVELS. DURING THE PAST WEEK THE LAKE LEVELS HAVE RISEN SOME AND
MOST ARE AT OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL LEVELS.
IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA...LAKE LEVELS ALONG THE TALLULAH RIVER ARE AT
OR SLIGHTLY BELOW FULL POOL.
AGRICULTURE IMPACTS...
THE LACK OF RAIN AND HIGH TEMPERATURES ARE HAVING A DRYING AFFECT ON
MOST CROPS. PASTURES ARE SOMEWHAT GREEN RIGHT NOW BUT ARE BEGINNING
TO SHOW SIGNS OF STRESS.
FIRE DANGER HAZARDS...
OBSERVED FIRE DANGER LEVELS ARE MAINLY IN THE MODERATE CATEGORY WITH
SOME ISOLATED SPOTS OF HIGH DANGER LEVELS ACROSS THE AREA.
CLIMATE SUMMARY...
RAINFALL OVER THE PAST 7 DAYS (APRIL 1 THRU APRIL 8)WAS GENERALLY
LESS THAN ONE HALF INCH. YEAR TO DATE TOTALS INDICATED RAINFALL
DEFICITS FROM 2 TO 20 INCHES ACROSS THE AREA. THE GREATEST RAINFALL
DEFICITS..16 TO 20 INCHES BELOW NORMAL WAS IN SOUTHERN
JACKSON...MACON AND CLAY COUNTIES IN NORTH CAROLINA.
PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK...
6 TO 10 DAY FORECAST...MAY 13 TO MAY 17 2008 INDICATES BELOW NORMAL
TEMPERATURES AND SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION.
30 DAY OUTLOOK...MAY
INDICATES NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE AREA
90 DAY OUTLOOK...MAY THROUGH JULY...
THE OUTLOOK INDICATES EQUAL CHANCES OF BELOW OR ABOVE NORMAL
PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURES.
HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK...
THE LA NINA IS EXPECTED TO START TO WEAKEN SOME. THUS THE DROUGHT IS
EXPECTED TO CONTINUE ACROSS THE AREA INTO THE FALL.
NEXT ISSUANCE DATE...
THIS PRODUCT WILL BE UPDATED ON MAY 22, 2008 OR SOONER IF
NECESSARY IN RESPONSE TO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN CONDITIONS.
RELATED WEB SITES...
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON CURRENT DROUGHT CONDITIONS MAY BE FOUND AT
THE FOLLOWING WEB ADDRESSES /USE LOWER CASE LETTERS/
U. S. DROUGHT MONITOR...HTTP://WWW.DROUGHT.UNL.EDU/DM/MONITOR.HTML
NOAA DROUGHT PAGE.......HTTP://WWW.DROUGHT.NOAA.GOV
NORTH CAROLINA DROUGHT PAGE...HTTP://WWW.NCWATER.ORG/DROUGHT/
SOUTH CAROLINA DROUGHT PAGE...
HTTP://WWW.DNR.SC.GOV/CLIMATE/SCO/DROUGHT/DROUGHT_CURRENT_INFO.PHP
ADDITIONAL RIVER INFORMATION
NWS...HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/AHPS/
USGS...HTTP://WATER.USGS.GOV/WATERWATCH
CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER...HTTP://WWW.CPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...
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 CLIMATOLOGIST AND THE NATIONAL
DROUGHT MITIGATION CENTER. INFORMATION FOR THIS STATEMENT HAS BEEN
GATHERED FROM NWS AND FAA OBSERVATION SITES...USDA...USFS...USCE ...
DUKE ENERGY...GA POWER AND STATE CLIMATE OFFICES.
QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS...
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ABOUT THIS DROUGHT STATEMENT...
PLEASE CONTACT...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
1549 GSP DRIVE
GREER SC 29651
PHONE 864-848-3859
GSP.WEBMASTER@NOAA.GOV$$