Expected rainfall may alleviate drought conditions

If the weather forecast holds up, by the time you’re reading this Saturday morning, Burke County should be getting a shot of some much-needed rainfall.

If that’s indeed the case, it didn’t come a moment too soon.

The county officially entered Moderate Drought (D1) status last week, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Since then, a sizable portion of eastern Burke has been upgraded to Severe Drought (D2).

An unusually arid June — the fifth driest on record in Morganton — coupled with higher-than-normal temperatures led to the condition. It only took a few weeks for the rainfall gains made during an especially wet May (3 inches more rain than normal) to wither away to nothing.

Chris White of Foothills Action Network said the current condition is a “flash drought,” which means it started and intensified quickly. But White, whose forecasts have traditionally proven remarkably reliable, said Burke should be soggy soon.

“There’s a cold front coming in and it’s going to stall out across the area,” said White earlier this week. “As it does so, rain chances are going to increase into Saturday. So, the weekend looks like a good 50% to 60% chance of rain, pretty widespread. A higher chance than what we’ve had over the last month and a half.”

Thursday, Foothills Action Network upped the rain chances for Saturday to 80%.

Burke County Fire Marshal Mike Willis said there are still no plans in the works for issuing a burning ban. The only significant wildfire was a 60-acre blaze on Burkemont Mountain that flared up on July 4 and 5 but was quickly contained.

Meanwhile, streamflows in the county have hovered near normal levels recently. Lakes Rhodhiss and Hickory were slightly below target levels as of press time, but Lake James had fallen more than a foot below Duke Energy’s target level of 98 feet.

“We were doing really well in May, and then we just dried out in June,” White said. “The humidity dried out of the air and pulled all the moisture out of the ground as well. That led into a flash drought, which we’re in right now.”

AFTER THE RAIN, MORE HEAT?

After the rain moves through, hot weather will likely make a rapid return. Foothills Action Network is calling for highs in the upper 80s throughout next week.

According to the state’s drought website, high temperatures have been 3-4 degrees hotter than normal over the last month and have landed in the 90-100 range on average over the last week.

Dr. Anthony Frank, Chief Medical Officer and Senior VP of Medical Affairs and UNC Health Blue Ridge, advises folks to exercise caution when they have to be outdoors for extended periods of time.

He said one of the four physiological ways the body keeps itself cool in hot weather (radiation, conduction, evaporations, and convection) is via sweating, but if the relative humidity climbs higher than 75%, sweating’s effectiveness plummets.

Another way the body cools itself in hot weather is to direct more blood flow to the skin. But if the outside temperature is hotter than the body, the heat transfer can’t take place, and folks can overheat quickly.

“When the temperature is 100 degrees and the humidity is greater than 75%, all four of the mechanisms you have to cool your body aren’t working,” Frank said. “If you toss in things like being elderly, if you happen to have more severe medical problems like diabetes or high blood pressure, you’re going to be more susceptible to heat-related illness or injury.”

He added some medicines can exacerbate the effects of heat as well.

The most obvious way to avoid heat-related illness, Frank said, is to stay indoors or in the shade. If you must be outside, drink plenty of water.

“If you’re going to be outside, drinking lots of water can help,” Frank said. “Depending on how long you’re going to be there, drinking electrolyte replacement may be necessary — Gatorade, Powerade, or some of those things.”

He said some athletes and those who work in high heat can become acclimated to the conditions, but most of us haven’t built up that kind of tolerance.

As a result, people should pay attention to how they’re feeling when out in the heat.

“This time of year, you should pay close attention to how long you’ve been out there and how much water you’re drinking,” Frank said. If it’s not necessary for you to do outside things in the middle of the day, it’s better to do those in the morning or afternoon.”

He also reminded people not to leave children or pets inside parked cars.