Posted by wxii12.com blogs at 9/6/2007 10:14 PM
“It’s so dry the grass is crunching beneath my feet.” That’s how the conversation went tonight during our newscast as my coworker and friend Cameron Kent described our ever-worsening drought situation. You may have other words for it and other ways of describing it– but the message is the same. Cameron’s right. It’s bad.
The entire state of North Carolina is in some stage of drought. “Exceptional” drought (the highest level) is occurring in the southwestern mountains. “Extreme” drought exists across the heart of the Triad, the Triangle, and the Charlotte metro area. “Severe” drought extends from Sparta to Elizabeth City, with “Moderate” drought across the extreme northern tier.
With “extreme” drought, you can expect major crop and pasture losses along with widespread water shortages and restrictions. So don’t be surprised if this drought forces you to change your habits in a hurry. I have to say though that I haven’t noticed alot of lawn watering in my travels. All I have seen is brown lawns and dry fields. It seems most of us have tired of fighting this losing battle.
As the phrase goes, “Rome was not built in a day”, and too we didn’t get into this drought overnight. It’s been a long haul this summer. Starting in May, the Triad has yet to reach it’s normal rainfall per month- and now it’s September! Here’s a look at rainfally amounts in the Triad since May:
May’s Rainfall .54″ (3.41″ below normal)
June’s Rainfall 2.20″ (1.33″ below normal)
July’s Rainfall 2.38″ (2.06″ below normal)
August’s Rainfall 1.36″ (2.35″ below normal)
September Rainfall as of Sept. 6th 0″ (.83″ below normal)
The tally of those numbers leads us to 9.98″ below normal since May!
We need rain and and we need it in a hurry. It’s so dry my children asked me the other day if the earth was coming apart. We were looking down at the dry, cracked clay at a construction site we were touring. My youngest, who’s four, thought those cracks were getting bigger right before his eyes!
If you’d like to share your thoughts on our current drought or recollections of past droughts, please feel free to pass them along here.
For more information on the drought situation in North Carolina check out this link http://www.ncdrought.org/
Lanie
