Drought conditions grip area

Rain has been hard to come by recently, threatening crops and stressing water supplies as high temperatures continue to bake the region.

Surry County has entered a moderate drought stage due to the persistent dry conditions, according to the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council (DMAC), joining 56 other counties the state in sharing that dubious distinction.

It is one step below severe drought.

This is being reflected in Mount Airy, where only 1.35 inches of precipitation were recorded the entire month of June at F.G. Doggett Water Plant, the city’s official weather-monitoring station.

By comparison, the all-time June average rainfall is 4.44 inches in Mount Airy, where weather records have been kept since 1924.

Atmospheric pressure blamed

The reason for the recent dry, hot weather is due to conditions emanating from a high-pressure region, according to a National Weather Service spokesman in Blacksburg, Virginia, which includes Surry County in its coverage area.

“I guess I would start by saying that we’ve had several periods where we had strong ridging,” Meteorologist Vance Joyner explained Wednesday, with ridging referring to a long area of high atmospheric pressure.

This has served to suppress precipitation along with bringing in hot tropical air from the south, Joyner added.

Several of these ridging events have occurred over the past couple of weeks, he said.

Some relief could be in store, as the forecast at last report was calling for a 60-percent chance of rain on Saturday.

Local rain lacking

While Mount Airy received only 1.35 inches of rain during June, much of that was measured on a single day at the end of last week with a heavy downpour that dumped 0.70 inches during a short afternoon period.

Only five days of measurable precipitation occurred overall last month.

For 2024 as a whole, however, Mount Airy’s precipitation total was slightly above average as of Sunday, the last day of June.

It stood at 25.87 inches for the year, which is 1.71 inches or 7.1 percent above the normal total for the first six months of 24.16 inches.

Hotter than usual

Coupled with the dryness was the fact Mount Airy was warmer than normal last month.

Temperatures averaged 72.4 degrees, compared to the all-time figure of 71.9 degrees.

The high last month came last Thursday, when a 96-degree reading was logged at the water plant.

On the other end of the mercury scale were a pair of 45-degree days on both June 1-2, taking low-temperature honors for the month.

Fog was observed on eight days at the water plant during June.

Bad elsewhere

The local area is not alone in recent rainfall across much of the state being minimal.

Southeast Regional Climate Center data indicates that some weather stations have recorded their driest 30 days on record.

Based on the short-term forecast, drought conditions could expand or worsen, according to the latest word from the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council.

“The lack of rainfall has been made worse by the warm weather and low humidity,” Klaus Albertin, who chairs the council, said in a statement.

“We have already seen impacts to stream flows and reservoirs,” Albertin continued. “The late spring and early summer are critical in the growing season, and impacts to agriculture have already been seen.”