Drought Status removed from 15 Counties

The South Carolina Drought Response Committee met Wednesday, April 25, via conference call to update the drought statuses of all counties in South Carolina. Recent rains provided sufficient relief from the drought in 15 South Carolina counties. Rainfall has been close to normal across the Upstate, whereas portions of the Midlands and central Savannah area reported less than 60% of normal rainfall since Dec. 1. For those wetter areas, the 2 to 3 inches of rain received earlier this week was enough to end the drought. For the drier counties, although the rain was certainly welcome, it was not adequate to completely remove the drought declaration. The counties that remain in the first level of drought or the incipient stage are Abbeville, Aiken, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Colleton, Dorchester, Edgefield, Hampton, Lexington, McCormick, Richland, and Saluda. Improved stream flow conditions in the Upstate supported the removal of incipient drought for the counties of York, Chester, Union, Fairfield, Laurens, Newberry and Greenwood, as well as the Pee Dee region counties. The committee will continue to monitor the weather and will meet again in late May.