Portions of Grand Strand, Pee dealing with extreme drought conditions

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — Extreme drought conditions remain prevalent across portions of the Grand Strand and Pee Dee, according to the latest South Carolina drought map released by the U.S. Drought Monitor.

The map shows about 25% of Horry County is in an extreme drought area that extends west from the North Carolina border in the northern part of the county. Roughly three-quarters of Marion (73.37%) and Florence (82.76%) counties are also in the extreme drought area.

The classification levels include no drought, abnormally dry, moderate drought, severe drought, extreme drought and exceptional drought.

In other areas of the Grand Strand, the conditions range from abnormally dry to severe drought, the map shows. Darlington and Dillon counties are almost entirely in the severe drought area, while Marlboro County is about evenly split between moderate and severe drought conditions.

Statewide, virtually all of South Carolina (99.46%) is experiencing some level of drought conditions between abnormally dry and extreme drought. About 36% of the state is in the severe to extreme range, while slightly more than 6% is considered to be suffering from extreme drought.

No areas of the state are currently in the exceptional drought zone.

The U.S. Drought Monitor is jointly produced by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

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Dennis Bright is a Digital Producer at News13 . He joined the team in May 2021. Dennis is a West Virginia native and a graduate of Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Follow Dennis on, Facebook , X, formerly Twitter , and read more of his work here .

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