Drought — Stokes, North Carolina

2026-01-06 to 2026-01-31 · Stokes, North Carolina

Event narrative

Severe Drought conditions were introduced to Stokes county in early January after the previous two months of November and December recorded precipitation totals of 2.00-4.00 inches, which ended up being 25 to 50 percent of normal for that period. These dry conditions combined with the dry fall conditions leading up to below average rainfall in November and December, contributed to a rapid decrease in groundwater and soil moisture in this region, where observed values for each had fallen to at or below the 5th percentile for groundwater, and 2nd percentile for soil moisture in the first 0-100 cm based off the NASA SPoRT LIS data estimated on the 6th of January. Streamflows similarly decreased across the area. This included the Dan River, which was observed to be below the 5th to 10th percentile per the USGS WaterWatch website and, in some cases, were near record-low flows.

Wider weather episode

Severe Drought conditions were introduced across the North Carolina and Virginia Piedmonts in early January after the previous two months of November and December recorded precipitation totals of 2.00-4.00 inches, which ended up being 25 to 50 percent of normal for that period. These dry conditions combined with the dry fall conditions leading up to below average rainfall in November and December, contributed to a rapid decrease in groundwater and soil moisture in this region, where observed values for each had fallen to at or below the 10th percentile for groundwater, and 2nd to 5th percentile for soil moisture in the first 0-100 cm based off the NASA SPoRT LIS data estimated on the 6th of January. Streamflows similarly decreased across the area. This included the Yadkin River, which was observed to be below the 10th percentile per the USGS WaterWatch website and, in some cases, were near record-low flows.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1311004. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.