National Weather Service Text Product Display

Drought Information Statement
Issued by NWS Columbia, SC
Versions: 1 2 3 4 5
000
AXUS72 KCAE 021433
DGTCAE

GAC033-073-181-189-245-SCC003-009-011-017-025-027-037-039-055-057-061
-063-065-071-075-079-081-085-161400-

DROUGHT STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
1030 AM EDT THU MAY 02 2013

...IMPROVEMENT IN SOIL MOISTURE CONTINUES ACROSS THE MIDLANDS OF
SOUTH CAROLINA AND THE CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA OF GEORGIA...

                        ...SYNOPSIS...

OVER THE PAST 7 DAYS...ENDING ON THE MORNING OF MAY 01 2013 NORMAL
TO AS MUCH AS 5 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL AMOUNTS FELL ACROSS THE AREA.
THE AREAS WITH THE HEAVIEST RAINFALL WERE ALONG THE SOUTH CAROLINA
COAST AND OVER NORTH CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA.  OVER HALF OF SOUTH
CAROLINA HAD FROM 1 TO 2 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL AMOUNTS.  MUCH OF IT IN
THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE STATE.

SEE WWW.WATER.WEATHER.GOV/PRECIP/ FOR MORE DETAILS.

                  ...SUMMARY OF IMPACTS...

THE SOUTH CAROLINA FORESTRY COMMISSION REPORTED ALMOST NO FIRE
ACTIVITY ACROSS THE STATE THIS MORNING.

GO TO THE SOUTH CAROLINA FORESTRY COMMISSION WEB SITE AT
HTTP://WWW.STATE.SC.US/FOREST/ FOR MORE INFORMATION.

SOIL MOISTURE LEVELS ARE IN GOOD CONDITION ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA
AS REPORTED BY THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

FOR DATA THROUGH APRIL 28 2013:

SOUTH CAROLINA:

SOILS RANGED FROM 1 PERCENT VERY SHORT...1 PERCENT SHORT...87
PERCENT ADEQUATE AND 11 PERCENT SURPLUS.

GEORGIA:

TOP SOIL RANGED FROM 6 PERCENT SHORT TO 73 PERCENT ADEQUATE AND 21
PERCENT SURPLUS. SUBSOIL MOISTURE RANGED FROM 1 PERCENT VERY SHORT
TO 7 PERCENT SHORT TO 74 PERCENT ADEQUATE TO 18 PERCENT SURPLUS.

MUCH OF THE DROUGHT AREA IN GEORGIA HAS DISSIPATED WITH MODERATE
DROUGHT RESTRICTED TO THE SOUTHEAST GEORGIA COAST.

GO TO DROUGHTMONITOR.UNL.EDU FOR MORE DETAILS ON THE GEORGIA DROUGHT.

                   ...SOIL MOISTURE CONDITIONS...

THE UNITED STATES DROUGHT MONITOR VALID ON MAY 02 2013 FOR DATA
THROUGH APRIL 30 2013 ELIMINATED MODERATE DROUGHT FROM SOUTH
CAROLINA AND EAST CENTRAL GEORGIA.  ABNORMALLY DRY CONDITIONS ON A
LONG TERM BASIS WERE KEPT OVER PART OF THE CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER
AREA INTO WEST CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA AND ANOTHER AREA OVER
NORTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA.

ABNORMALLY DRY CONDITIONS...D0 INCLUDED EASTERN COLUMBIA AND MUCH OF
RICHMOND COUNTIES IN GEORGIA AND MOST OF EDGEFIELD AND AIKEN
COUNTIES IN WEST CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA.

ANOTHER AREA OF ABNORMALLY DRY CONDITIONS WAS FOUND OVER NORTHEAST
SOUTH CAROLINA...NORTH OF A LINE FROM NORTH CAROLINA ACROSS FAR
NORTHWEST LANCASTER COUNTY TO SOUTHWEST KERSHAW COUNTY TO CENTRAL
LEE COUNTY TO FAR SOUTHERN MARLBORO COUNTY TO CENTRAL MARION COUNTY
TO EAST CENTRAL HORRY COUNTY TO NORTH CAROLINA.

THE REST OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND THE CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA
WERE DROUGHT FREE.

            ...SOUTH CAROLINA DROUGHT COMMITTEE...

THE SOUTH CAROLINA DROUGHT RESPONSE COMMITTEE MET ON WEDNESDAY APRIL
24 2013 AND REMOVED ALL OF SOUTH CAROLINA FROM DROUGHT. THE LAST
TIME THIS OCCURRED WAS IN JUNE OF 2010.

              ...GROUND WATER CONDITIONS...

THE GROUND WATER NETWORK MAINTAINED BY THE UNITED STATES
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WAS USED IN THIS REPORT. GROUND WATER LEVELS
CONTINUE TO SHOW IMPROVEMENT AT 2 OF THE THREE WELLS IN THE
TABLE BELOW INDICATING THAT WATER IS PERCOLATING INTO THE GROUND
WATER SYSTEM.  HOWEVER LEVELS ARE STILL LOW.

A HIGHER NUMBER MEANS A LOWER WATER TABLE AND THEREFORE LESS
GROUNDWATER. A MINUS DIFFERENCE INDICATES LESS GROUND WATER.

BAKER CREEK STATE PARK WELL
APRIL       25 2013   42.63 FEET
MAY         02 2013   42.62 FEET
DIFFERENCE      PLUS   0.01 FEET

BERKELEY COUNTY AIRPORT
APRIL       25 2013   59.68 FEET
MAY         02 2013   59.64 FEET
DIFFERENCE      PLUS   0.04

CHESTER COUNTY
APRIL       25 2013   93.89 FEET
MAY         02 2013   93.91 FEET
DIFFERENCE      MINUS  0.02 FEET

                ...RIVER AND STREAMFLOW CONDITIONS...

OVER THE PAST 7 DAYS ENDING ON MAY 01 2013 NONE OF SOUTH CAROLINA
RIVER BASINS SHOWED DROUGHT OR DRYNESS.

ON MAY 02 2013...A SNAPSHOT OF GAGE READINGS SHOWED THAT NO RANKED
GAGES SHOWED FLOW IN THE BELOW 25 PERCENTILE RANGE. SELECTED RANKED
GAGES ON MAY 02 2013 SHOWED 191 PERCENT OF MEDIAN FLOW...A GREAT
IMPROVEMENT OVER THAT OF A WEEK AGO.

DATA SOURCE...UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

                 ...RESERVOIRS...

ONLY 1 OF THE 6 RESERVOIRS IN THE TABLE BELOW HAD DECLINES
OVER THE PAST WEEK WHILE THE REST RECORDED RISES. LEVELS
ARE DETERMINED BY RESERVOIR OPERATIONS.

LAKE RUSSELL                            LAKE THURMOND
APRIL    25 2013 474.73 FEET              324.67 FEET
MAY      02 2013 474.93 FEET              325.43 FEET
DIFFERENCE   PLUS  0.20 FEET         PLUS   0.76 FEET

LAKE GREENWOOD                            LAKE MURRAY
APRIL    25 2013 439.06 FEET              358.07 FEET
MAY      02 2013 439.50 FEET              358.36 FEET
DIFFERENCE   PLUS  0.44 FEET         PLUS   0.29 FEET

LAKE MARION                              LAKE WATEREE
APRIL    25 2013  75.33 FEET               96.94 FEET
MAY      02 2013  74.97 FEET               97.81 FEET
DIFFERENCE   MINUS 0.36 FEET         PLUS   0.87 FEET

THE LEVEL OF LAKE THURMOND WAS 3.37 FEET BELOW AVERAGE
AND THE LEVEL OF LAKE RUSSELL WAS 0.28 FEET ABOVE AVERAGE
FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. THE LEVEL OF LAKE WATEREE WAS 0.81
FEET ABOVE THE 97.0 FOOT TARGET LEVEL FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR.

DATA FOR THIS SEGMENT WAS GATHERED FROM THE UNITED STATES
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY...THE UNITED STATES ARMY CORP OF ENGINEERS
AND DUKE ENERGY.

                   ...CLIMATE SUMMARY...

PRECIPITATION FROM JANUARY 01 2013 THROUGH MAY 01 2013

COLUMBIA SC    15.00 INCHES    PLUS  1.37 INCHES    110 PERCENT
ORANGEBURG SC  14.80 INCHES    PLUS  0.33 INCHES    102 PERCENT
AUGUSTA  GA    17.34 INCHES    PLUS  2.42 INCHES    116 PERCENT

            ...PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK...

NEAR TERM...SEE THE ZONE AND GRIDDED FORECASTS FOR THE CHANCE OF
RAIN OVER THE NEXT 7 DAYS AT WEATHER.GOV/CAE.

THE 8 TO 14 DAY OUTLOOK VALID FROM MAY 09 2013 THROUGH MAY 15 2013
CALLS FOR A 40 TO 50 PERCENT CHANCE OF BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES
ACROSS ALL OF GEORGIA AND SOUTH CAROLINA...AND A 40 TO 50 PERCENT
CHANCE OF ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION FOR ALL OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND
GEORGIA.

THE OUTLOOK FOR MAY 2013 CALLS FOR EQUAL CHANCES OF ABOVE...BELOW OR
NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND A 33 TO 40 PERCENT CHANCE OF ABOVE NORMAL
PRECIPITATION ACROSS ALL OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA

THE OUTLOOK FOR MAY...JUNE AND JULY 2013 CALLS FOR A 40 PERCENT
CHANCE OF ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES FOR ALL OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND
GEORGIA AND EQUAL CHANCES OF ABOVE...BELOW OR NORMAL PRECIPITATION
ACROSS ALL OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA.

              ...HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK...

THE DROUGHT HAS ENDED ACROSS THE MIDLANDS OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND THE
CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA IN GEORGIA. THE MIDTERM OUTLOOKS FAVOR
ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION AND LEAN TOWARD BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES
IN THE MID TERM...SWINGING TO FAVOR ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES BY MID
SUMMER.

WITH OUTLOOKS CONTINUING TO FAVOR NORMAL TO ABOVE NORMAL
PRECIPITATION...IMPROVEMENT SHOULD CONTINUE...SO THIS WILL BE THE
LAST DROUGHT STATEMENT UNTIL DROUGHT CONDITIONS RETURN.

                      ...RELATED WEB SITES...

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE CURRENT DROUGHT MAY BE FOUND AT THE
FOLLOWING WEB ADDRESSES /USE LOWER CASE LETTERS/
U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR...HTTP://DROUGHTMONITOR.UNL.EDU
NOAA DROUGHT PAGE...HTTP://WWW.DROUGHT.GOV/DROUGHT
NWS COLUMBIA DROUGHT PAGE...HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/CAE/DROUGHT.PHP
SC FORESTRY COMMISSION...WWW.STATE.SC.US/FOREST/SCFIRES.HTM

ADDITIONAL RIVER AND LAKE INFORMATION:
NWS...HTTP://WWW.WATER.WEATHER.GOV/AHPS2/INDEX.PHP?WFO=CAE
USACE...HTTP:/WATER.SAS.USACE.ARMY.MIL/HOME
USGS...HTTP://WWW.USGS.GOV

                      ...ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...

THE UNITED STATES DROUGHT MONITOR IS A MULTI-AGENCY EFFORT INVOLVING
NOAA/NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE...THE NATIONAL CLIMATIC DATA
CENTER...THE USDA...STATE AND REGIONAL CENTER CLIMATOLOGISTS AND THE
NATIONAL DROUGHT MITIGATION CENTER. INFORMATION FOR THIS STATEMENT
HAS BEEN GATHERED FROM NWS AND FAA OBSERVATION SITES...STATE
COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE...THE USDA...USACE...DUKE ENERGY AND
THE USGS.

                    ...QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS...

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ABOUT THIS DROUGHT STATEMENT
PLEASE CONTACT...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
2909 AVIATION WAY
WEST COLUMBIA SC 29170
PHONE: 803-822-8135
INTERNET ADDRESS W-CAE.WEBMASTER@NOAA.GOV

$$

LAMBERTY
National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office
