Snow Doesn't Brighten Drought Picture
Snow that dusted the region over the weekend had little impact on the statewide drought, officials said Thursday.
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Sixty-five of North Carolina's 100 counties remain in exceptional drought conditions, the worst of the state Drought Management Advisory Council's five categories.
Several counties in eastern North Carolina moved from severe to extreme drought conditions, or vice versa, during the week. In the end, 23 counties were in the extreme category, up from 22 a week ago, while 12 were in the severe category, down from 13.
WRAL Chief Meteorologist Greg Fishel said the region's rainfall totals, while lacking, are better than they were last summer.
In August, rainfall in the Raleigh area was 25 percent of normal. Since October, monthly rainfall totals have been at least 68 percent of normal, except for November, when the total was 58 percent of normal.
"You could say things have leveled off a little bit," Fishel said. "It's just that we're so far below normal at this point that it will take a herculean effort to get us back to where we should be."
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