Heavy rains last week banished all but a spot of severe drought from the mountain region, with more relief likely to be reflected in next week’s drought map from the N.C. Drought Management Advisory Council. 

Allens Creek Park in Waynesville is closed until further notice while county crews clean it up following last week’s heavy rains and wind. 

For the first time since Oct. 23, Western North Carolina is free of active wildfires. 

Drought conditions are the best they’ve been in a month, according to the latest map from the Drought Management Advisory Council, with recent rains wiping out the extreme drought conditions that had affected 13 western counties. 

Burn bans have been lifted and wildfires contained after steady rains Tuesday, Nov. 21, put a pause in a relentless drought that has been growing since an abnormally dry weather pattern emerged in September. 

For the first time since 2016, Western North Carolina is in the midst of a severe drought coupled with an active fall wildfire season . Research shows that’s right on schedule. 

Drought is strengthening in southwestern North Carolina, with 14 counties now in moderate drought and an additional 58 labeled abnormally dry.