Recent rainfall was not enough to offer relief from worsening drought conditions. According to the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council, extreme drought conditions have expanded across most of the Piedmont and in Western North Carolina, and one county is now considered to be in exceptional drought. 

According to the DMAC’s classification’s issued Thursday, Union County is in an exceptional drought, 61 counties are in extreme drought and most of the rest of the state is in severe drought. 

Drought conditions continue to increase in severity across North Carolina. Thirty counties are now experiencing extreme drought, and most counties are experiencing severe or moderate drought, according to the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council.

For counties in extreme drought, water systems are advised to follow their Water Shortage Response Plan and adhere to water use reduction measures.

Much of North Carolina continues to experience moderate drought, according to the latest advisory from the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council.

The DMAC classified all or parts of 65 counties, including all of The Smoky Mountain News coverage area, as experiencing moderate drought, or D1 conditions. 

North Carolina is drought-free in the latest advisory issued Thursday by the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council (DMAC), marking the first time since Oct. 15 that the state has been free of drought or abnormally dry conditions. 

The North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council has classified most of the state as abnormally dry, while 56 counties are at least partially in a moderate drought, including almost the entire Smoky Mountain News coverage area. 

The North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council continues to classify much of Eastern North Carolina as being in a moderate drought, but the entire western part of the state has returned to normal.

After several weeks of increasingly dry conditions, Western North Carolina has finally seen some much-needed rain, taking the whole region out of drought conditions and into a “moderately dry state.” 

The North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council has again classified the whole state as at least abnormally dry with a moderate drought now affecting the entire Smoky Mountain News coverage area other than a sliver of northern Haywood County. 

The North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council has again classified the whole state as at least abnormally dry with a moderate drought affecting three far-west counties and most of the eastern part of the state. 

The North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council has classified parts of Western North Carolina as being in a moderate drought.