Defeat Of The Drought? Dry Spell Appears To Be Easing

The drought that’s plagued the Southeast for three years has loosened its grip on the Mountain Empire, national climatologists report.
“Most of the indicators show there’s been some improvement,” said Mark Svoboda, a climatologist with the National Drought Mitigation Center. “But it doesn’t mean that everything’s free and clear.”
Climatologists at the center track drought conditions across the country by monitoring several dry-weather indicators, including soil moisture, reported drought events, and stream and well depths, Svoboda said.
They use the information to designate areas into six categories – normal, abnormally dry, moderate drought, severe drought, extreme drought and exceptional drought – and then publish their results in the U.S. Drought Monitor, a weekly online publication.
According to Thursday’s edition, all 18 counties in the Mountain Empire are experiencing either normal or abnormally dry conditions except for Carter, Greene, Unicoi and Washington counties in Tennessee. Those four counties, or at least their southern tips, are still experiencing moderate drought conditions.
This is a significant improvement from the March 10 edition of the U.S. Drought Monitor, which placed all of Northeast Tennessee and significant portions of Lee, Russell and Washington counties in Virginia in a moderate drought.
Svodoba said a seasonably low demand for water and the recent rain and snow showers are two major factors behind the region’s recovery from the drought.
According to the National Weather Service, 17.63 inches of rain, snow and sleet have fallen at the Tri-Cties Regional Airport since Oct. 1.
Though still about 2 inches below the region’s normal levels for the time period, the rainfall has been enough to create a noticeable improvement, said Sullivan County Extension Agent Chris Ramsey.
“Our moisture level has improved quite a bit lately,” Ramsey said. “We’ve got good pasture, and the hay crop is really looking good.”
South Holston Lake also is looking good because of the rain, Tennessee Valley Authority spokesman Gil Francis said Friday.
According to TVA’s Web site, the lake’s depth Friday was 1,722 feet above sea level. This is just 7 feet shy of the lake’s summer pond depth, a level Francis said TVA hopes to keep the lake at for optimum summer recreation.
Francis said the lake should easily be able to reach this depth if the region gets its normal amount of rain from now until June 1.
Going into last year’s Memorial Day weekend, the lake had an elevation of only 1,718 feet above sea level, which was the lake’s highest depth for the entire summer of 2008.
Still, both Ramsey and Svodoba said the region’s recovery is tenuous at best and warned it could quickly fall back into a full-blown drought.
Svodoba said the Mountain Empire’s demand for water will increase greatly during the late spring and summer when farmers water their crops and the temperatures start to warm up and dry out the ground.
“There’s not a lot of reserve moisture built up yet,” Ramsey said. “With three or four weeks of dry weather, we could be back in to a serious condition.”
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