Given all of the recent rain, why did the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council meet Friday to talk about drought? "I think everybody's just taking a proactive stance," said Vicki Westbrook, Durham Public Utilities.
State Climatologist Ryan Boyles told Eyewitness News the group wants to stay on of any future droughts.According to the group, 2009 does not appear to be anuthing like 2007.
"There's no threat of a repeat of the exceptional drought that I think anybody sees on the horizon," said Dale Crisp, Raleigh Public Utilities.
Because of the past, current and future conditions will be monitored carefully. Even the first couple of months this year led to worry.
"We were quite dry especially in the latter of January and all of February we were really concerned we might be moving into some problem," Boyles said. "Two big rainfall events in the past 2 to 3 weeks have made all the difference."
And now in the Triangle, things are looking good as we enter spring and summer.
Despite the good outlook, several counties in the western part of the state remain in a drought..
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, 12 counties in southwestern NC have severe drought conditions and 15 were in moderate drought. Forty-five counties in the western Piedmont and eastern part of the state are classified as abnormally dry.
