Weekend rain isn’t enough to lift Augusta, Rockingham counties out of severe drought

Rain over the weekend and from Tropical Storm Debby wasn’t enough to lift Augusta and Rockingham counties out of severe drought conditions.

A drought warning advisory has been extended for the Shenandoah region of the state which includes Augusta, Clarke, Frederick, Page, Rockingham, Shenandoah and Warren counties.

According to the designation, a significant drought is imminent and is in effect for the region, according to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and the Virginia Drought Monitoring Task Force.

The Shenandoah region is the only area that received the drought warning advisory in Virginia. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor website, the region remains in a severe drought.

Drought watch advisory

The drought watch advisory was expanded to include 22 counties.

The counties included in the drought watch include:

• Big Sandy: Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington and Wise counties
• New River: Bland, Carroll, Floyd, Giles, Grayson, Montgomery, Pulaski and Wythe counties
• Northern Virginia: Arlington, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun and Prince William counties

A drought watch advisory is intended to help Virginians prepare for a potential drought and is in effect for the Big Sandy, New River and Northern Virginia regions.

Breaking down the data

• Widespread precipitation from Tropical Storm Debby provided significant relief to drought conditions across most of Virginia.
• Over the past two weeks, precipitation has been below normal with focused dryness occurring within the New River and Northern Virginia regions.
• Reductions in soil moisture have been observed, notably in the Big Sandy region.
• Stream flows are below the 10th percentile in the Big Sandy and New River regions.
• Groundwater levels for monitoring wells in the Climate Response Network remain below normal and will require additional precipitation events to recover over the short and long-term period. The New River, Shenandoah, and York-James regions are below the 5th percentile for groundwater levels and four regions are currently below the 10th percentile including the Big Sandy, Northern Coastal Plain, Northern Virginia and Roanoke. Major water supply reservoirs have declined over the last two weeks but remain within normal ranges.