Drought — Wilkes, North Carolina

2023-12-01 to 2023-12-20 · Wilkes, North Carolina

Event narrative

Severe Drought conditions already in place at the beginning of the month for all of Wilkes County persisted until December 12th for the northwest half of the county, when two low pressure systems passing across the lower Mid-Atlantic during the period of December 3rd to the 10th brought rainfall amounts ranging from 1.75 to locally nearly 3.5 inches. This allowed the northwest half of the county to improve to a Moderate Drought status, though the southeast half of the county remained in a Severe Drought status for two additional weeks. Another heavy rainfall event occurred on December 26th, bringing a full category improvement for Wilkes County, with Moderate Drought conditions designated for the southeast half of the county, while Abnormally dry conditions were declared for the northwest half. Total rainfall amounts across Wilkes County for December ranged from 5 inches in the east to around 10 inches near the crest of the Blue Ridge. The precipitation moistened leaf litter and other fuels that support wildland fire activity, and a noted decrease in wildfires after these precipitation events was noted by the North Carolina Department of Forestry. There was no reported impacts to agriculture in December, with some farmers reporting that the lack of soggy ground make work in the fields easier to accomplish.

Wider weather episode

The passage of multiple low pressure systems near the Carolinas during the month of December brought abundant precipitation to northwest North Carolina, most of which fell as rain. Liquid precipitation totals varied generally from 4.5 inches to 6.5 inches for most of the northwest portion of the state, with a few totals reaching in excess of 9 inches along the crest of the Blue Ridge from Watauga County into Alleghany County. These precipitation totals were anywhere from 150 percent to over 200 percent of normal for December, making for vast improvements in local stream flows, ground water levels and soil moisture from their peak dryness in mid-November. As such, where Severe Drought conditions were in place across the entire northwest portion of the state at the beginning of the month, conditions improved to Moderate Drought by the end of December for areas along and west of the Blue Ridge, and to a combination of Moderate Drought and Abnormally Dry conditions across the foothills of the Blue Ridge and the Piedmont.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1152605. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.