Drought conditions improving across Grand Strand, Pee Dee, state climatologist says

HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — Recent rains across much of South Carolina has cut into drought conditions across many counties , including those around the Grand Strand and Pee Dee.

The state Drought Response Committee on Wednesday downgraded 13 counties from “severe” on July 9 to “moderate” — among them Darlington, Dillon, Florence, Georgetown and Horry.

We have been fortunate that the weather pattern in the last couple of weeks has changed, with lower temperatures and more thunderstorms across a lot of the state,” Daryl Jones of the South Carolina Forestry Commission said.

State Climatologist Hope Mizzell said many locations have received more rain over last two weeks than the previous five combined.

That’s a big change from the group’s June 9 report, when officials said that since early June many locations received less than 2.5 inches of rain (25 percent of normal), combined with temperatures ranking in the top 10 warmest on record in South Carolina for the month.

There were multiple reports of 100-degree temperatures, with a maximum of 106 degrees at the University of South Carolina station on June 25.

The state’s drought committee meets again on Aug. 13.

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Adam Benson joined the News13 digital team in January 2024. He is a veteran South Carolina reporter with previous stops at the Greenwood Index-Journal, Post & Courier and The Sun News in Myrtle Beach. Adam is a Boston native and University of Utah graduate. Follow Adam on X, formerly Twitter, at @AdamNewshound12 . See more of his work here .

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