As our understanding of weather patterns has increased over the years, we have far more reliable data that can help us monitor weather and climate conditions in the short and long term. Organizations such as the USDA, NOAA, and the Climate Prediction Center provide daily drought updates for all regions of the country.
Should Landowners Be Concerned About The Current Drought Update?
The National Drought Mitigation Center produces a weekly drought update for the country that is readily available to the public. A drought update map is published each Thursday. This article discusses the most recent drought update for the country's Southeast region, this summer of 2024.
Effects Of Drought To Be Concerned With
Drought is a normal part of the climate. It tends to be a slow-moving hazard, which can cause people to underestimate its damage, but losses from drought may be as substantial as those from hurricanes, tornadoes, and other disasters.
Drought causes losses to agriculture, affects domestic water supply, energy production, public health, and wildlife, and contributes to wildfires, to name a few of its effects. However, it is important to note that large urban water systems generally have diverse water supplies and can keep water flowing in dry and wet periods.
The US Drought Monitor Produces The Drought Update
The U.S. Drought Monitor update is produced jointly by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Meteorologists and climatologists from the NDMC, NOAA, and USDA take turns as the map's lead author, usually two weeks at a time. The author’s job is to do something that a computer can’t. When the data points in different directions, they make sense of it.
Precipitation plays a major role in creating the Drought Monitor, but the map’s authors consider many data sources. Some numeric inputs include precipitation, streamflow, reservoir levels, temperature and evaporative demand, soil moisture, and vegetation health.
No evidence tells the full story, and neither do strictly physical indicators. That’s why the USDM isn’t a statistical model; it’s a blend of these physical indicators, drought impacts, field observations, and local insight from a network of experts.
The USDA uses the Drought Monitor to trigger disaster declarations and determine eligibility for low-interest loans. The Farm Service Agency uses it to help determine eligibility for its Livestock Forage Disaster Program, and the Internal Revenue Service uses it to defer tax on forced livestock sales due to drought.
Land and fire managers utilize the data to determine management alternatives for the management and fire protection of our timber and agricultural resources.
Drought Update Summary For North Carolina
Here is a summary of the most current Drought Monitor Update.
Current Drought Monitor Update
- Normal conditions in Southwest North Carolina
- Abnormally dry conditions in Eastern and Northwest North Carolina
- Short-term impacts for agriculture and grasslands less than six months
- Limited short-term impacts on fire control in forests
Short-Term Drought Predictions
- Abnormally dry to moderately dry for much of North Carolina
- Limited short-term impacts on fire control in forests
Long-Term Drought Predictions
- Normal conditions for most of the state
- Moderately dry for Northwest North Carolina
- Limited impacts on fire control in forests
Should You Be Worried About The Current Drought Update?
Although much of North Carolina is abnormally dry in early summer, the excess moisture the area received earlier in the year has mitigated some of the conditions' impacts, filling our reservoirs, ponds, and other watershed storage capacities.
There are signs in some areas of abnormally dry conditions, but they appear short-lived. For drought conditions to begin to severely impact the area, the soil moisture will have to be much lower for a long period of time.
The drought update predictions show that the abnormally dry conditions currently in place will reach normal conditions later this summer, except for small areas of the northwest section of the state. The drought update for North Carolina seems to give no indication that we should be worried.
With that said, all weather predictions are just predictions. Although the data collected and analyzed typically gives reliable results, weather patterns can change dramatically quickly, drastically changing predictions in the short term. However all the indications in the drought update show that North Carolina should not experience levels of drought this year that will create excessive problems.
Church And Church Lumber Company: Important To Forestry Management
Church and Church Lumber Company is a major buyer of timber products from private land in the mountains of North Carolina. This income provides income to landowners and jobs throughout the state. The income can fund proper land management activities for various natural resources.
Church and Church, a family-owned company, serves much of North Carolina and the neighboring areas. We offer various services, from logging and forest management to direct lumber sales.
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Contact Church & Church today for more information about how we can help you better manage your forest land.