South Carolina Current Drought Status

State Climate Office
NEWS RELEASE #15-35 DNR News 803-667-0696
October 5, 2015

Committee downgrades entire state to no drought status

South Carolina Drought Map for October 5, 2015

For previously issued drought statements see the archived status reports.

Table of all counties and drought status.
Drought Response Committee Meeting Sign-In sheet.

The S.C. Drought Response Committee, meeting via conference call on Oct. 30, 2015, has downgraded the entire state to no drought status. This is due to the unprecedented heavy rain this month across much of the state with some areas receiving 14 to 28 inches since Oct. 1.

According to Scott Harder, S.C. Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Hydrology, "Most of the 21 streamflow gages used to monitor drought now have above normal flows compared to late September when flows were below normal. As bad as the flooding was for many parts of the state, the dry conditions leading up to the heavy rain may have reduced the severity of flooding in some basins."

The original Drought Committee meeting was postponed on Oct. 5 due to the state's emergency response to the historic rain and flooding event. The committee officially met Oct. 30, but decided to retroactively designate the date of the downgrade to Oct. 5. Hope Mizzell, S.C. State Climatologist explained, "It is important for documentation and future research that the drought designations timely reflect actual conditions. While Committee members were unable to convene to discuss the drought until late October it was unanimously recognized that the drought ended following the historic rains in early October. The official designation will reflect no drought as of Oct. 5, 2015."

Contact Dr. Mizzell in Columbia at (803) 734-9568 or e-mail at mizzellh@dnr.sc.gov for more information.

DNR protects and manages South Carolina's natural resources by making wise and balanced decisions for the benefit of the state's natural resources and its people. Find out more about DNR at the DNR Web site.

Drought Status Table

Current Drought Status by County
Normal	Incipient	Moderate	Severe	Extreme
County Status	County Status	County Status	County Status	County Status
ABBEVILLE Normal	AIKEN Normal	ALLENDALE Normal	ANDERSON Normal	BAMBERG Normal
BARNWELL Normal	BEAUFORT Normal	BERKELEY Normal	CALHOUN Normal	CHARLESTON Normal
CHEROKEE Normal	CHESTER Normal	CHESTERFIELD Normal	CLARENDON Normal	COLLETON Normal
DARLINGTON Normal	DILLON Normal	DORCHESTER Normal	EDGEFIELD Normal	FAIRFIELD Normal
FLORENCE Normal	GEORGETOWN Normal	GREENVILLE Normal	GREENWOOD Normal	HAMPTON Normal
HORRY Normal	JASPER Normal	KERSHAW Normal	LANCASTER Normal	LAURENS Normal
LEE Normal	LEXINGTON Normal	MARION Normal	MARLBORO Normal	MCCORMICK Normal
NEWBERRY Normal	OCONEE Normal	ORANGEBURG Normal	PICKENS Normal	RICHLAND Normal
SALUDA Normal	SPARTANBURG Normal	SUMTER Normal	UNION Normal	WILLIAMSBURG Normal
YORK Normal

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Sign-In Sheet

SC Drought Response Committee Meeting, October 5, 2015 Sign-In sheet
Name & Agency	Name & Agency

Find out more about the State Climatology Office at https://www.dnr.sc.gov/climate/sco/ or by calling (803) 734-9100.