An updated assessment of the state’s rainfall deficit was released Thursday morning, and it shows more of the state is in a drought.
Although many areas have received heavy rainfall in the past week or two from drenching thunderstorms, the storms were not very widespread. Much of the state had also amassed hefty rainfall deficits for the year — some locations were six or more inches below normal.
The area categorized as a “moderate drought” is now 16% of Virginia, an increase of 6% since last week. The majority of the state is categorized as “abnormally dry”. Only about 11% of Virginia is near or above normal in terms of rainfall.
Additional storms Thursday into Friday and Friday night will help alleviate some of the situation in some areas.
However, for this part of the summer, due to the sun angle and intensity, we lose about 1.5″ of water each week due to evaporation. So, not seeing frequent & well-distributed rainfall creates an issue fairly quickly for farms, yards & bodies of water.
An update to the drought monitor will be released next Thursday.
