Does recent rainfall in the Triangle make a dent in the ongoing drought?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Meteorologist said the Triangle needs another 10- to 15-inches of rain to end the drought.
- Saturday night’s storm produced between a tenth and an inch of rain.
- Raleigh, Wake Forest, Durham and Nashville remain in extreme drought
Saturday night’s rain was a welcome sight, but not nearly enough to be a drought buster.
National Weather Service Meteorologist Jonathan Blase said the Triangle needs another 10- to 15-inches of rain to end the drought.
“The rain is helpful,” Blase said Sunday, “but the impact on a drought that has taken six-to-nine months to develop is going to be somewhat limited. What it does do is kind of stops the bleeding and keeps things from derailing as fast as it kind of has been.”
On Saturday night, a rainstorm moved into the Triangle producing between a tenth-of-an-inch of to an inch of rain.
Downtown Raleigh and northwest Raleigh saw more rain than other parts of the Triangle. The rain decreased as it fell over areas like Garner and Clayton.
Raleigh, Wake Forest, Durham, Lewisburg, Henderson and Nashville remain in an extreme drought, while Cary, Siler City, Apex, Lillington and Smithfield are under a severe drought.
Blase said the drought began shortly after the remanents of Tropical Storm Chantal moved out of North Carolina last July. And then a lack of rain fell throughout the fall, winter and Sspring.
He added that it will likely take another six-to-nine months to come out of the drought, with above average rain.
But what coming out of the drought looks like means different things to different people, Blase said.
For Raleigh homeowners, under water restrictions, they welcomed the rainfall to water their grass.
Local farmers know that the soil is warm enough to plant corn for a fall harvest and need sustained rainfall to keep the plant growing.
Those monitoring Raleigh’s water supply were likely disappointed with Saturday’s rainfall totals.
Blase said the helps dampen the ground and stop the dust, but it’s not enough to boost the supply of drinking water.
“That’s really, really important, because that is where the all the water flows into Falls Lake,” Blase said. “Falls Lake provides drinking water for Raleigh and several other communities in the area.”
Blase said for those hoping for rain to fill up Falls Lake, rain needs to fall northwest of Raleigh in areas like Roxboro and Chapel Hill.
Blase said where the majority of the rain fell Saturday flows into the New River, “and exits stage right and helps the fight and salamanders and all that in the river but doesn’t do anything for drinking supplies in the Triangle.”
The good news is rain should continue to fall this week.
“It’s not going to be overwhelming or a drought buster or going to fix a lot of things,” Blase said, “but considering it’s rained very little over the past three weeks, we’ll take it.”
Blase said over the next seven days expect an average of three-quarters-of-an-inch to an inch of rain, beginning Tuesday.
Blase also said to expect cooler temperatures, which also helps the moisture linger.
