Nearly 3/5 of West Virginia in moderate drought
RALEIGH COUNTY, WV (WVNS) – The heat continues to crank this summer and along with that has been some of the driest conditions seen some time in West Virginia.
With the latest Drought Monitor issued, nearly 60 percent of the Mountain State is now in a moderate drought.
According to the National Integrated Drought Information System, a moderate drought (D1) indicates conditions where some damage to crops and pastures is possible, along with streams or wells running low.
As Earth warms, more ‘flash droughts’ suck soil, plants dry
To put things in perspective, here are the last three times at least 60 percent of the state of West Virginia was considered to be in a moderate drought, according to the Drought Monitor:
June 26th, 2007 (68.08% in drought)
September 24th, 2002 (100% in drought)
September 17th, 2002 (100% in drought)
It has been 17 years since 60 percent of West Virginia has been under a moderate drought!
April 2024 | May 2024 | June 2024 | |
Beckley | 2.86″ (-0.78″) | 3.45″ (-1.23″) | 2.98″ (-1.32″) |
Bluefield | 5.03″ (+1.39″) | 5.08″ (+0.47″) | 1.36″ (-2.78″) |
The path to drought has been a little different for portions of our region. In our southern areas, a wet spring particularly in April was followed by an extremely dry June. The month of June was not as dry farther north, such as in Beckley, but was still far below average. However, in the northern half of our region, below average rainfall has been seen for the last three months, allowing for a slow accumulation of rainfall deficit.
Though the heat and humidity continue to provide chances for afternoon scattered showers and storms, the overall pattern for the next week looks to provide more below average rainfall overall, which means this drought could get slightly worse still yet before conditions improve. However, there are signs of a slightly wetter pattern developing toward the second half of the month, which hopefully will provide benefit to the ongoing drought in the region.
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