Recent rains don't end drought

Deluge likely to go on, but we're still too dry.

Heavy showers and storms over the weekend dumped more than 2 inches of rain in the Triangle.

And there's likely more where that came from.

The National Weather Service said that from Friday through Monday, 2.33 inches of rain fell at Raleigh-Durham International Airport.

About that drought ...

So far this year, the Triangle area has had 1.07 inches more rain than normal, meteorologist Russell Henis said. For the month, the area is 1.53 inches above normal, Henis said.

And yet, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the Triangle remains under severe drought conditions.

What's the forecast?

An upper level disturbance sitting just west of the Appalachian Mountains and a deep southerly flow are responsible for the copious amounts of moisture in the area, said meteorologist Jason Beaman of the National Weather Service. And the heat of July has made it easy for thunderstorms to develop each afternoon and evening, he said.

The current forecast calls for a strong chance of thunderstorms again across the region throughout the week.

And then there's Bertha ...

Meanwhile, forecasters are keeping an eye on Hurricane Bertha, the first hurricane of the Atlantic season. There is no immediate threat to North Carolina , Beaman said.

As of Monday evening, Bertha was considered a major hurricane with maximum sustained winds at 115 mph. It was about 1,150 miles southeast of Bermuda and is expected by Saturday afternoon to be about 1,000 east of Cape Lookout.

It's too early to tell whether it will affect the North Carolina coast.