000 AXUS72 KGSP 061709 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- 073-077-045-059-083-087-023-021-091-071709- DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 1209 PM EST THU NOV 06 2008 ...EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT CONDITIONS OVER SOUTH CAROLINA EXPANDED INTO BORDERING STATES... SYNOPSIS... VERY LITTLE IF ANY RAIN OVER THE AREA DURING THE PAST 2 WEEKS HAS LEAD TO AN EXPANSION OF EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT CONDITIONS OVER PARTS OF THE UPSTATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA INTO THE BORDERING COUNTIES OF NORTH CAROLINA AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA. AS OF NOVEMBER 4... EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT CONDITIONS REMAINED OVER THE NORTHWEST PART OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA UPSTATE AREA. THE FOOTHILLS INTO THE EASTERN AND LOWER PIEDMONT AREAS WERE IN THE MODERATE TO SEVERE DROUGHT CATEGORIES. IN NORTH CAROLINA... THE PARTS OF THE SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS WERE PUT INTO THE EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT CATEGORY WHILE THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS WERE IN THE EXTREME DROUGHT CATEGORY AND THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS... FOOTHILLS AND PIEDMONT AREAS RANGED FROM SEVERE TO ABNORMALLY DRY. IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA. EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT CONDITIONS WERE OCCURRING IN RABUN COUNTY AND EXTREME DROUGHT CONDITIONS CONTINUED ACROSS THE REST OF THE AREA. FOR DETAILED COUNTY BY COUNTY DROUGHT STATUS SEE, U. S. DROUGHT MONITOR...HTTP://WWW.DROUGHT.UNL.EDU/DM/MONITOR.HTML SUMMARY OF IMPACTS... VOLUNTARY WATER RESTRICTIONS ARE IN EFFECT FOR MOST WATER SYSTEMS ACROSS NORTH CAROLINA. MANDATORY RESTRICTIONS ARE NOW IN EFFECT FOR TOWNS OF TAYLORSVILLE...GASTONIA AND NEWTON. VOLUNTARY WATER RESTRICTIONS ARE IN EFFECT FOR MOST WATER SYSTEMS ACROSS SOUTH CAROLINA. MANDATORY RESTRICTIONS ARE NOW IN EFFECT FOR THE TOWNS OF GREENWOOD...CHESTER...SALEM...ROCK CREEK...SANTUCK...AND MOST LOCATIONS IN YORK COUNTY. VOLUNTARY WATER RESTRICTIONS ARE IN EFFECT FOR MOST WATER SYSTEMS IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA. SOIL MOISTURE... 87 PERCENT OF THE TOP SOIL MOISTURE IN SOUTH CAROLINA IS SHORT TO VERY SHORT. NORTH CAROLINA IS 69 PERCENT AND GEORGIA IS 78 PERCENT. GROUNDWATER CONDITIONS... HERE ARE THE CURRENT WELL WATER LEVELS..... LOCATION LEVELS (FEET BELOW SURFACE) CURRENT RECORD DATE OF OCCURRENCE AVERY CNTY NR LINVILLE NC 2.29 FT 2.83 8/25/2008 DAVIE CNTY MOCKSVILLE NC 23.46 FT 24.03 8/26/2008 HAYWOOD CNTY NR CRUSO NC 6.57 FT 6.62 8/24/2008 IREDELL CNTY TURNERSVILLE NC 30.11 FT 29.78 8/07/2008 MECKLENBURG CNTY NR OAKDALE NC 5.76 FT 8.56 8/14/2002 ROWAN CNTY BARBER NC 15.27 FT 16.64 8/26/2008 SWAIN CNTY NR BRYSON CITY NC 7.47 FT 7.32 8/25/2008 TRANSYLVANIA CNTY BLANTYRE NC 41.27 FT 39.63 12/10/2000 OCONEE CNTY TAMASSEE SC 31.84 FT 31.83 9/14/2002 ANDERSON CNTY WILLIAMSTON SC 3.88 FT 4.54 9/13/2007 SPARTANBURG CNTY CROFT SP SC 47.33 FT 46.89 8/28/2008 RIVER AND STREAM FLOW CONDITIONS... IN NORTH CAROLINA...OF THE 41 REAL-TIME REPORTING SITES IN WESTERN PART OF THE STATE...7 SITES WERE IN THE 25 TO 75 PERCENT OF NORMAL RANGE....6 SITES WERE 10 TO 24 PERCENT OF NORMAL RANGE AND 28 SITES WERE IN THE 10 PERCENT OR LESS OF NORMAL RANGE. IN SOUTH CAROLINA...OF THE 14 REAL-TIME REPORTING SITES IN THE UPSTATE... 1 SITE WAS IN THE 10 TO 25 PERCENT RANGE. 13 SITES WERE 10 PERCENT OR LESS OF NORMAL FLOW RANGE. IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA...OF THE 4 REAL-TIME REPORTING SITES...4 SITES ARE IN THE 10 PERCENT OR LESS OF NORMAL FLOW RANGE. CURRENT LAKE LEVELS.... LOCATION CURRENT LEVEL NORMAL LEVEL HARTWELL DAM 639.96 FT 658.87 FT. RUSSELL DAM 471.50 FT 473.95 FT. JOCASSEE DAM 78.86 FT 99.50 FT. KEOWEE DAM 92.63 FT 99.00 FT. MOST OF THE LAKES ON THE CATAWBA RIVER REMAIN AT STAGE 3 DROUGHT LEVELS. DURING THE PAST WEEK THE LAKE LEVELS HAVE RISEN SOME AND MOST ARE AT OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL LEVELS. IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA...LAKE LEVELS ALONG THE TALLULAH RIVER ARE AT OR SLIGHTLY BELOW FULL POOL. AGRICULTURE IMPACTS... PERCENT OF PASTURE IN POOR TO VERY POOR CONDITIONS ARE AS FOLLOWS...AS OF OCTOBER 26... 19 PERCENT IN SOUTH CAROLINA... 27 IN GEORGIA...AND 21 IN NORTH CAROLINA. FIRE DANGER HAZARDS... OBSERVED FIRE DANGER LEVELS RANGE FROM MODERATE ACROSS THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA. CLIMATE SUMMARY... RAINFALL OVER THE PAST 7 DAYS (OCT 22 THRU OCT 30) RANGED FROM NEAR NORMAL TO 2 INCHES BELOW NORMAL ACROSS THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA. LAST 356 DAYS AS OF OCT 29...TOTALS INDICATED RAINFALL DEFICITS IN MOUNTAINS OF NORTH CAROLINA RANGE FROM 6 TO 10 INCHES. PIEDMONT FROM 3.00 TO 6.32 INCHES. FOR SOUTH CAROLINA...MOUNTAINS WERE 20.76 INCHES BELOW NORMAL.. NORTHWEST IS 14.08 INCHES BELOW NORMAL...NORTH CENTRAL IS 5 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. FOR NORTHEAST GEORGIA...11.49 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK... 6 TO 10 DAY FORECAST...NOV 6 TO NOV 10 2008 INDICATES BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND EQUAL CHANCES OF BELOW OR ABOVE PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS IN WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA AREAS. 30 DAY OUTLOOK...NOVEMBER INDICATES ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE AREA AND EQUAL CHANCES OF BELOW OR ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION. 90 DAY OUTLOOK...NOVEMBER THROUGH JANUARY 2009... THE OUTLOOK INDICATES EQUAL CHANCES OF BELOW OR ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURE. HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK... THE OUTLOOK FOR THE NEXT 6 MONTHS SHOWS LITTLE CHANGE IN CURRENT DROUGHT CONDITIONS. NEXT ISSUANCE DATE... THIS PRODUCT WILL BE UPDATED ON 5 DECEMBER 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$$