Drought — Greater Pickens, South Carolina

2008-06-01 to 2008-06-30 · Greater Pickens, South Carolina

Wider weather episode

Although near normal rainfall was observed across much of the area during the late winter and early spring, another period of abnormally dry weather in May and June exacerbated severe to extreme drought conditions over the western Carolinas and northeast Georgia. Much of the area saw less than 2 inches of rain during this period of time, and June was the driest on record at the Greenville-Spartanburg airport. By the end of the month, much of Upstate South Carolina was running 10 inches below normal annual rainfall. Total rainfall deficits since the beginning of 2007 were around 20 inches or more in the hardest hit areas. By the end of the month, flow on almost all major streams was running less than 10 percent of normal. Many area crops suffered, with the South Carolina peach crop producing only 50-60 percent of its typical yield.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 121589. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.