Rain and cool weather ease stress on agriculture but drought continues
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Bill Poteat
Editor Emeritus
Did the inch or so of rain that has fallen across Burke County in the last week put an end to the drought?
The answer is an unequivocal “No.”
Has the same rain proven beneficial to pastures, farms, gardens, and lawns around Burke County.
The answer is a most definite “Yes.”
Do the recent rains mean the dry pattern has broken and Burke can look forward to healthy precipitation over the remaining spring and summer months, slowly recovering from the extended drought?
The answer to that is one great big ol’ “Maybe.”
About half an inch of rain fell across the area on Saturday, April 25. Ditto that amount from a line of thunderstorms that crossed the Foothills on the morning of Tuesday, April 28.
Both the National Weather Service and The Weather Channel are predicting a good chance for rain across the Foothills today as well, although amounts are expected to be light, ranging from .25 to .50 of an inch.
All very welcome, but far, far removed from the heavy, soaking rains that would be necessary to erase the precipitation deficit and end the drought, which is now classified as “severe” in not only Burke County but also across a wide swath of western and central North Carolina.
Randy Smith, Morganton’s water resources director, put it in perspective.
“We are certainly grateful for the recent rain showers that have blessed our community, however, rainfall totals for April are currently around 3/4 of an inch, following one of the driest three-month periods in over 100 years,” Smith said.
Rainfall totals are around 8.5 inches behind normal, meaning Burke County would normally be at 16 to 17 inches of rain for the year by the end of April, Smith said.
“Drought stages,” he continued, “are based on months of rolling averages and it can take months of normal precipitation to remove drought stage conditions.”
Currently the entire Catawba River Basin is in a Stage 1 Low Inflow Protocol, meaning all of Burke’s municipalities are urging residents to voluntarily use less water.
“However,” Smith added, “Without additional rainfall, we will trend toward Stage 2 conditions, which could result in mandatory water reduction measures basin wide.
“It is important to understand,” Smith concluded, “that just because we receive some much-needed rain, we still remain in extreme drought conditions. We appreciate and support the continued efforts of our residents to reduce water use.”
Despite the ongoing drought, the water level at Lake James at the end of the week was 96.3 feet, only 3.7 feet down from full pond.
IMPACT ON AGRICULTURE
Although the recent rains were not “drought busters,” they have had a positive impact on Burke County agriculture.
“Those rains provided enough moisture to allow the planting of corn and soybeans,” said Damon Pollard, with the Burke Center of the N.C. Cooperative Extension.
“The rain also has greened up the grass in some of our pastures,” Pollard continued, “but unfortunately, it came too late to help the first hay crop.”
In addition to the benefits of the recent rain, a much cooler weather pattern over the past week has also served to benefit agriculture in the county.”
“Not nearly so much stress on livestock and chickens when it’s cloudy and cool,” said Pollard. “I’m crossing my fingers in the hope that, looking long-term, we should be receiving more regular rain.”
LONG-TERM FORECAST
So just how long will Pollard have to keep his fingers crossed?
“There are significant signs that the pattern is shifting,” said Morganton meteorologist Jason Prichard.
“We’re currently in a time of transition,” Prichard said. “LaNina, which was the root cause of the dry winter and spring, is breaking down. But it may be later into May or even June when El Nino takes control.”
Normal rainfall in Burke County is four to five inches per month for May, June, July and August. That can vary, however, due to the hit and miss nature of summer thunderstorms.
“One area can receive an inch and a half of rain from a thunderstorm,” Prichard said, “while a spot down the road may not get a drop.”
The Paper will continue to follow this story until drought conditions begin to ease.
