Drought in Southern Jackson, North Carolina

Much needed rainfall, especially early in the month resulted in slight improvement of drought conditions across the North Carolina mountains in December. In fact, thanks to the rainfall, extreme drought conditions had once again retreated to southwest corner fof the state. Nevertheless, monthly rainfall totals were still a little below normal, while final yearly totals were as much as 15 inches below normal in most locations. Levels were well below normal on all area streams, while some streams observed near-record low discharge rates. Reservoirs were several feet below target elevations and all communities continued to observe at least voluntary water restrictions, while some had instituted mandatory restrictions.