DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
352 PM EST THU JAN 22 2009
...RECENT RAINS PROVIDED LITTLE IF ANY RELIEF TO THE ON GOING DROUGHT...
SYNOPSIS...
THOUGH SEVERAL WEATHER SYSTEMS MOVED THROUGH THE SOUTHEAST VERY LITTLE
RAIN FELL ACROSS THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA. BELOW
NORMAL RAINFALL FOR THE PAST 7 DAYS WAS GREATEST ACROSS THE SOUTHERN
MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS OF NORTH CAROLINA AND MOST OF THE UPSTATE OF
SOUTH CAROLINA. THIS HAS LED TO AN EXPANSION OF THE D2 OR SEVERE
DROUGHT CONDITIONS IN TO THESE AREAS. THE REST OF THE HYDROLOGIC
AREA REMAINED THE SAME AS LAST WEEKS DEPICTION.
...........CURRENT DROUGHT CONDITIONS AS OF JANUARY 20, 2009
EXTREME DROUGHT CONDITIONS COVERED MOST OF THE NORTHWEST PART OF THE
UPSTATE.
SEVERE DROUGHT CONDITIONS COVERED THE PARTS OF THE CENTRAL AND
SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS AND SOUTHERN FOOTHILLS OF NORTH CAROLINA AND
PARTS OF NORTHEAST GEORGIA.
ABNORMALLY DRY CONDITIONS TO MODERATE DROUGHT CONDITIONS ARE ACROSS
PARTS OF THE FOOTHILLS INTO THE PIEDMONT AREAS OF NORTH AND SOUTH
CAROLINA.
FOR DETAILED COUNTY BY COUNTY DROUGHT STATUS SEE U.S. DROUGHT
MONITOR. U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR...
http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html
...........SUMMARY OF IMPACTS...
NORTH CAROLINA...
BROAD RIVER BASIN....VOLUNTARY WATER RESTRICTIONS ARE IN EFFECT FOR
MOST WATER SYSTEMS IN THE BASIN. WHILE SOME MANDATORY WATER
RESTRICTIONS IN CLEVELAND AND POLK COUNTIES ARE IN EFFECT.
CATAWBA RIVER BASIN....MANDATORY WATER RESTRICTIONS ARE IN EFFECT
FOR MOST WATER SYSTEMS IN THE BASIN. WHILE VOLUNTARY WATER
RESTRICTIONS ARE IN EFFECT FOR GASTON...MECKLENBURG...LINCOLN...
MCDOWELL...CATAWBA AND ALEXANDER COUNTIES.
FRENCH BROAD AND LITTLE TENNESSEE BASINS...VOLUNTARY WATER
RESTRICTIONS ARE IN EFFECT FOR MOST WATER SYSTEMS WITH SOME
MANDATORY WATER RESTRICTIONS IN BUNCOMBE...TRANSYLVANIA...MADISON
...AVERY...JACKSON AND GRAHAM.
SOUTH CAROLINA...
VOLUNTARY WATER RESTRICTIONS ARE IN EFFECT FOR MOST WATER SYSTEMS.
WHILE MANDATORY WATER RESTRICTIONS ARE IN EFFECT FOR PARTS OR ALL OF
THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...ANDERSON...CHESTER...GREENWOOD...OCONEE...
UNION AND YORK.
COUNTIES IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA REMAIN UNDER STATE DROUGHT RESPONSE
LEVEL FOUR WHICH CALLS FOR MANDATORY WATER RESTRICTIONS.
.............CROP MOISTURE...AS OF JANUARY 20 2008...
THE CROP MOISTURE INDEX WAS MAINLY IN THE WET CATEGORY ACROSS THE
MOUNTAINS OF NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA. WHILE THE REST OF THE WESTERN
CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA WERE IN THE ABNORMALLY MOIST
CATEGORY.
GROUNDWATER CONDITIONS...
HERE ARE THE CURRENT WELL WATER LEVELS (FEET BELOW SURFACE).....
LOCATION CURRENT RECORD DATE OF
LEVEL LEVEL OCCURRENCE
AVERY CNTY NR LINVILLE NC 2.11 FT 2.83 8/25/2008
DAVIE CNTY MOCKSVILLE NC 22.04 FT 23.32 8/25/2002
HAYWOOD CNTY NR CRUSO NC 6.04 FT 6.96 9/13/2002
IREDELL CNTY TURNERSBURG NC 30.70 FT 29.78 8/07/2008
MECKLENBURG CNTY NR OAKDALE NC 4.33 FT 8.56 8/14/2002
ROWAN CNTY BARBER NC 14.46 FT 11.15 9/15/2002
SWAIN CNTY NR BRYSON CITY NC 4.95 FT 7.32 8/25/2008
TRANSYLVANIA CNTY BLANTYRE NC 41.08 FT 42.19 12/12/2008
OCONEE CNTY TAMASSEE SC 31.46 FT 32.08 1/03/2009
ANDERSON CNTY WILLIAMSTON SC 4.02 FT 5.68 9/12/2002
SPARTANBURG CNTY CROFT SP SC 47.81 FT 47.77 1/19/2009
..........7 DAY AVERAGE STREAM FLOW CONDITIONS ENDING JANUARY 20...
IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA...OF THE 41 REAL-TIME REPORTING SITES...17
SITES WERE LESS THAN 10 PERCENT OF NORMAL FLOW. 14 SITES WERE IN THE
10 TO 24 PERCENT OF NORMAL FLOW RANGE. 10 SITES WERE IN THE 25 TO 75
PERCENT OF NORMAL FLOW RANGE. NO SITES WERE GREATER THAN 76 PERCENT
OF NORMAL FLOW.
IN UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA...OF THE 12 REAL-TIME REPORTING SITES...8
SITES WAS LESS THAN 10 PERCENT OF NORMAL FLOW RANGE. 2 SITES WERE IN
THE 10 TO 24 PERCENT OF NORMAL FLOW RANGE. 2 SITES WERE IN THE 25 TO
75 PERCENT OF NORMAL FLOW. NO SITES WERE IN THE 76 TO 90 PERCENT OF
NORMAL FLOW RANGE.
IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA...OF THE 3 REAL-TIME REPORTING SITES...1 SITE
WAS 25 TO 75 PERCENT OF NORMAL FLOW RANGE. 2 WERE IN THE 10 TO 24
PERCENT OF NORMAL RANGE.
CURRENT LAKE LEVELS....
LOCATION CURRENT LEVEL NORMAL LEVEL
HARTWELL DAM 645.93 FT 658.87 FT.
RUSSELL DAM 470.19 FT 473.95 FT.
JOCASSEE DAM 74.25 FT 99.50 FT.
KEOWEE DAM 95.99 FT 99.00 FT.
LAKE HARTWELL IS CURRENTLY 9.69 FT BELOW THE AVERAGE LEVEL AT THIS
TIME OF THE YEAR.
MOST OF THE LAKES ON THE CATAWBA RIVER WERE AT OR JUST ABOVE NORMAL
LAKE LEVELS FOR THIS TIME OF THE YEAR.
LAKE LEVELS IN THE NANTAHALA LAKE AREAS WERE 1 TO 3 FT ABOVE NORMAL
LEVELS FOR THIS TIME OF THE YEAR.
IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA...LAKE LEVELS ALONG THE TALLULAH RIVER WERE
CURRENTLY AT OR JUST BELOW NORMAL LEVELS.
...........FIRE DANGER HAZARDS...AS OF JANUARY 21.
ACROSS THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA ...THE FIRE
DANGER CATEGORY WERE MAINLY IN THE HIGH CATEGORY FOR THE FOOTHILLS
AND PIEDMONT WHILE IT WAS IN THE LOW CATEGORY ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS.
..............CLIMATE SUMMARY...
YEAR TO DATE (FROM JAN 22 2008 TO JAN 20 2009) RAINFALL DEPARTURES
FROM NORMAL ARE AS FOLLOWS
NORTHEAST GEORGIA...7.84 INCHES BELOW NORMAL
SOUTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS...20.80 INCHES BELOW NORMAL
SOUTH CAROLINA NORTHWEST PART...12.04 INCHES BELOW NORMAL
NORTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS...4.57 TO 6.57 INCHES BELOW NORMAL
NORTH CAROLINA SOUTHERN PIEDMONT...2.90 BELOW NORMAL
NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL PIEDMONT... 1.09 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL
...............PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK...
6 TO 10 DAY FORECAST...JAN 28 TO FEB 1, 2009
INDICATES NEAR BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND NEAR NORMAL
PRECIPITATION CHANCES.
30 DAY OUTLOOK...FEBRUARY
INDICATES ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL
PRECIPITATION.
90 DAY OUTLOOK...FEBRUARY THROUGH APRIL...
INDICATES SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION...AND SLIGHTLY
ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES.
..............HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK...
THE LATEST OUTLOOK CALLS FOR LA NINA CONDITIONS TO CONTINUE
TO DEVELOP AND WILL BE IN PLACE THROUGH THE FIRST PART OF 2009.
THUS RESERVOIR LEVELS IN GEORGIA WILL REMAIN A CONCERN.
NEXT ISSUANCE DATE...
THIS PRODUCT WILL BE UPDATED ON FEBRUARY 10TH 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
U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR...
http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html
NOAA DROUGHT PAGE......
http://www.drought.noaa.gov/
STATE DROUGHT PAGES...
NC... http://www.ncwater.org/drought/
SC... http://www.dnr.sc.gov/climate/sco/Drought/drought_current_info.php
GA... http://www.caes.uga.edu/topics/disasters/drought/
ADDITIONAL RIVER INFORMATION
NWS...
http://www.weather.gov/water/
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