Drought — Amherst, Virginia

2024-08-01 to 2024-08-13 · Amherst, Virginia

Event narrative

The remnants of Hurricane Debby brought rainfall totals to Amherst County of 2 to locally 4 inches, in addition to the 1 to 2 inches that fell earlier in August prior to Debby's arrival. This rainfall resulted in significant short-term improvement to both soil moisture and streamflow levels, raising each from anywhere between the 10th-30th percentile before the storm to normal levels after the storm passed. As such, the southern quarter of Rockbridge County experienced an improvement in drought conditions from Severe Drought to Moderate Drought on August 6th, with the northern three quarters of the county improving to Moderate Drought on August 13th. However, it was reported toward the end of August that many types of crops did not benefit from the moisture given the later time of the growing season that it arrived. Some farmers also reported additional losses to crops from the rainfall given that the increased moisture caused some crops to become infected with disease, and made it more difficult for heavy equipment to enter the fields given the soft soil conditions.

Wider weather episode

The remnants of Hurricane Debby brought widespread rainfall to central Virginia on August 8th, with totals ranging from 2.5 to 4.5 inches, with locally higher amounts of up to six inches. The rainfall resulted in widespread short-term improvements in soil moisture and streamflows, bringing most back to normal levels after being categorized as below normal to much below normal prior to the arrival of the storm. Improvements realized by the agricultural community were mixed, with some crops benefiting from the rainfall while others did not benefit as much given the rain fell later in the growing season.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1221262. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.