ASHEVILLE – Drought conditions have improved in Asheville and several Western North Carolina counties after a rain event that brought nearly 5 inches to the Asheville Regional Airport over a course of 10 days.
A portion of Buncombe County was also considered in a moderate drought with a total of 35 counties across the state listed in this category.
Within Buncombe County, the western area of the county is experiencing some abnormally dry conditions, the least severe category, but the remainder of the county was not considered to be in a drought of any kind, according to the drought monitor map.
The National Weather Service recorded 7.58 inches of rainfall from April 1-26, which is 4.58 inches above normal for the month.
Within the past week and half, 4.5 inches have been recorded at the Asheville Regional Airport.
The city’s regional airport recorded 1.98 inches of rain on April 22, a record-setting amount of rainfall within a 24-hour period for that date, according to the NWS.
For the year, the Asheville Regional Airport has observed an above normal amount of rainfall with 15.92 inches recorded, according to the NWS.
Although the past week brought relief to several western counties, drought conditions will linger into the upcoming months and could potentially get worse, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Duckett said that although recent rainfall has helped the area, farmers still don’t know what to expect going forward.
58 inches | + 4.58 inches