000 AXUS72 KGSP 021715 DGTGSP GAC105-147-119-257-137-241-NCC075-173-113-099-087-175- 115-021-089-149-161-111-199-121-011-023-045-071-109- 035-003-097-119-097-179-025-159-059-SCC001-047-007- 073-077-045-059-083-087-023-021-091-031715- DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 1215 PM EST MON NOV 02 2009 ....SLOW STEADY RAINS HELP TO EASE THE DROUGHT ACROSS MUCH OF THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA... SYNOPSIS... THE COMBINATION OF FAST MOVING COLD FRONTS AND SLOW STEADY RAINS FROM SLOW MOVING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS HAVE ALMOST ELIMINATED THE DROUGHT IN MOST AREAS EXCEPT THE CATAWBA RIVER BASIN. PRECENT OF NORMAL RAINFALL DURING THE PAST 7 DAYS... IN SOUTH CAROLINA AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA WAS MAINLY AROUND 200 PERCENT OF NORMAL. IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA THE PERCENT OF NORMAL RAINFALL RANGED FROM 300 PERCENT IN THE MOUNTAINS TO 85 PERCENT OF NORMAL IN UNION COUNTY. AREAS THAT REMAIN IN THE ABNORMALLY DRY CATEGORY IN NORTH CAROLINA AWERE A SMALL PARTS OF MECKLENBURG...ROWAN AND CABARRUS COUNTIES. AREAS THAT REMAIN IN THE MODERATE DROUGHT CATEGORY IN NORTH CAROLINA...UNION COUNTY. THE REST OF THE UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA...WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA ARE OUT OF THE DROUGHT. FOR DETAILED COUNTY BY COUNTY DROUGHT STATUS SEE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR. U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR...WWW.DROUGHT.UNL.EDU/DM/MONITOR.HTML SUMMARY OF IMPACTS... VOLUNTARY WATER RESTRICTIONS ARE IN EFFECT FOR MOST WATER SYSTEMS ACROSS NORTH CAROLINA. VOLUNTARY WATER RESTRICTIONS ARE IN EFFECT FOR MOST WATER SYSTEMS ACROSS SOUTH CAROLINA. VOLUNTARY WATER RESTRICTIONS ARE IN EFFECT FOR MOST WATER SYSTEMS IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA. CROP MOISTURE... AS OF OCT 24... NORMAL TO EXCESSIVELY WET ACROSS THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA. GROUNDWATER CONDITIONS... HERE ARE THE CURRENT WELL WATER LEVELS (FEET BELOW SURFACE)..... LOCATION CURRENT RECORD DATE OF LEVEL LEVEL OCCURENCE AVERY CNTY NR LINVILLE NC 1.04 FT 2.83 8/25/2008 DAVIE CNTY MOCKSVILLE NC 21.19 FT 23.32 8/25/2002 HAYWOOD CNTY NR CRUSO NC 5.09 FT 6.96 9/13/2002 ROWAN CNTY BARBER NC 7.77 FT 11.15 9/15/2002 TRANSYLVANIA CNTY BLANTYRE NC 34.05 FT 42.19 12/12/2008 OCONEE CNTY TAMASSEE SC 29.45 FT 32.08 1/03/2009 ANDERSON CNTY WILLIAMSTON SC 3.28 FT 5.68 9/12/2002 SPARTANBURG CNTY CROFT SP SC 48.66 FT 47.77 1/19/2009 RIVER AND STREAM FLOW CONDITIONS... IN NORTH CAROLINA...OF THE 41 REAL-TIME REPORTING SITES IN WESTERN PART OF THE STATE...41 WERE IN THE 76 TO GREATER THAN 90 PERCENT RANGE. IN SOUTH CAROLINA...OF THE 14 REAL-TIME REPORTING SITES IN THE UPSTATE... 1 SITE WAS IN THE 10 TO 25 PERCENT OF FLOW RANGE. 13 SITES WERE BETWEEN 76 TO 90 PERCENT OF NORMAL FLOW RANGE. IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA...OF THE 4 REAL-TIME REPORTING SITES...4 SITES ARE IN THE 76 TO 90 PERCENT OF NORMAL FLOW RANGE. CURRENT LAKE LEVELS.... LOCATION CURRENT LEVEL NORMAL LEVEL HARTWELL DAM 658.99 FT 658.87 FT. RUSSELL DAM 472.77 FT 473.95 FT. JOCASSEE DAM 92.91 FT 99.50 FT. KEOWEE DAM 96.47 FT 99.00 FT. MOST OF THE LAKES ON THE CATAWBA RIVER REMAIN AT NORMAL TO SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL LEVELS. IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA...LAKE LEVELS ALONG THE TALLULAH RIVER ARE AT OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE FULL POOL. FIRE DANGER HAZARDS... OBSERVED FIRE DANGER LEVELS WERE IN THE LOW CATEGORY. PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK... 6 TO 10 DAY FORECAST...6 NOV TO 11 NOV 2009 INDICATES NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS IN WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA AREAS. 30 DAY OUTLOOK...FOR NOVEMBER INDICATES EQUAL CHANCES OF BELOW OR ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND PRECIPITATION. 90 DAY OUTLOOK...NOVEMBER THROUGH JANUARY... THE OUTLOOK INDICATES SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND EQUAL CHANCES OF BELOW OR ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION. HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK... EL NINO IN THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN EQUATORIAL PACIFIC OCEAN IS EXPECTED TO BE A DOMINANT CLIMATE FACTOR THAT WILL INFLUENCE THE DECEMBER THROUGH FEBRUARY WEATHER IN THE UNITED STATES. THIS EL NINO IS EXPECTED TO STRENGTHEN OVER THE WINTER MONTHS LEADING TO A COOLER AND SLIGHTLY WETTER THAN NORMAL WINTER. NEXT ISSUANCE DATE... THIS PRODUCT WILL BE UPDATED AROUND NOVEMBER 10TH OR SOONER IF NECESSARY IN RESPONSE TO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN CONDITIONS. RELATED WEB SITES... ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON CURRENT DROUGHT CONDITIONS MAY BE FOUND AT THE FOLLOWING WEB ADDRESSES /USE LOWER CASE LETTERS/ U. S. DROUGHT MONITOR...HTTP://WWW.DROUGHT.UNL.EDU/DM/MONITOR.HTML NOAA DROUGHT PAGE.......HTTP://WWW.DROUGHT.NOAA.GOV NORTH CAROLINA DROUGHT PAGE...HTTP://WWW.NCWATER.ORG/DROUGHT/ SOUTH CAROLINA DROUGHT PAGE... HTTP://WWW.DNR.SC.GOV/CLIMATE/SCO/DROUGHT/DROUGHT_CURRENT_INFO.PHP ADDITIONAL RIVER INFORMATION NWS...HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/AHPS/ USGS...HTTP://WATER.USGS.GOV/WATERWATCH CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER...HTTP://WWW.CPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS... THE DROUGHT MONITOR IS A MULTI-AGENCY EFFORT INVOLVING NOAA/S NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AND NATIONAL CLIMATIC DATA CENTER...THE USDA...STATE AND REGIONAL CENTER CLIMATOLOGIST AND THE NATIONAL DROUGHT MITIGATION CENTER. INFORMATION FOR THIS STATEMENT HAS BEEN GATHERED FROM NWS AND FAA OBSERVATION SITES...USDA...USFS...USCE ... DUKE ENERGY...GA POWER AND STATE CLIMATE OFFICES. QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS... IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ABOUT THIS DROUGHT STATEMENT... PLEASE CONTACT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE 1549 GSP DRIVE GREER SC 29651 PHONE 864-848-3859 GSP.WEBMASTER@NOAA.GOV$$