North Carolina Drought Persists Despite Sporadic Rainfall Across the State

August 21, 2026
By Mintesinot Nigussie

Sporadic rainfall across North Carolina has brought some relief from a year-long drought, but large parts of the state remain under severe, extreme or exceptional drought conditions, with water levels in several reservoirs and streams still below normal.

The latest US Drought Monitor report, covering August 11 to 18, shows mixed conditions across the state. While western North Carolina recorded heavier and more widespread rainfall, parts of the Piedmont and coastal areas received little rain.

Parts of Guilford, Rockingham, Caswell, Person and Granville counties remain in extreme drought, the second-worst category. Conditions also deteriorated in parts of Warren and Halifax counties, which were newly classified as extreme drought.

Western Brunswick County remains in exceptional drought, the most severe category. By contrast, drought conditions improved in parts of western North Carolina, with areas of Macon, Jackson and Transylvania counties moving from extreme to severe drought following heavier rainfall.

“After much higher-than-normal rains in July, North Carolina has settled back into a more typical summer pattern with isolated thunderstorms bringing patchy rain,” said Klaus Albertin, chair of the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council and a water resources engineer with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Water Resources.

Albertin said the isolated rainfall should lead to gradual improvements in drought conditions, although many areas remain affected.

Water supplies remain under pressure in several parts of the state. Temperatures during the past two weeks were three to five degrees above 30-year averages in some areas, contributing to declines in stream and reservoir levels.

Streamflows in parts of the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico river basins have returned to the well-below-normal category. Some locations, including Flat River at Bahama and Little Fishing Creek near White Oak, have recorded record-low flows.

Falls Lake, which serves parts of Durham, Wake and Granville counties and rose after heavy July rainfall, has begun declining again. Kerr Lake is about seven feet below normal, prompting officials at the John H. Kerr Dam and Reservoir on the Virginia border to consider reducing power generation because of the low water level.

Water levels have improved at Tanasee Creek, Wolf Creek and Bear Creek lakes in western North Carolina, while Lake Norman and Lake Wylie in the Catawba basin remain below their target elevations.

The state is advising water systems in counties classified as being in exceptional or extreme drought to follow their water shortage response plans and implement water-use reduction measures.

Those systems are also required to report water use and conservation status weekly.

Residents in affected areas are being advised to check with their local water suppliers for restrictions on activities such as lawn watering and car washing and to conserve water where possible.

Source: FSX Business News