For the first time since August, North Carolina is now drought-free. Some areas of Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Macon and Dare counties remain abnormally dry, but the remaining 95 counties are now at or above normal moisture levels. 

Severe drought is gone from North Carolina and moderate drought barely holding on after an extraordinarily rainy first half of January. 

Heavy rains last week banished all but a spot of severe drought from the mountain region, with more relief likely to be reflected in next week’s drought map from the N.C. Drought Management Advisory Council. 

While some may have preferred a white Christmas, the rain that covered the region instead has proven the better Christmas gift for a region in continued drought. 

Drought conditions are the best they’ve been in a month, according to the latest map from the Drought Management Advisory Council, with recent rains wiping out the extreme drought conditions that had affected 13 western counties. 

Despite an uptick in precipitation and humidity levels, the region is still facing the worst drought conditions  since 2017, with renewed fire activity over the past week. 

Burn bans have been lifted and wildfires contained after steady rains Tuesday, Nov. 21, put a pause in a relentless drought that has been growing since an abnormally dry weather pattern emerged in September. 

A steady rain arrived in Western North Carolina Tuesday, Nov. 21, marking the first precipitation of that magnitude the region has seen in two months — but it won’t be enough to end the wildfire season for good.

For the first time since 2016, Western North Carolina is in the midst of a severe drought coupled with an active fall wildfire season . Research shows that’s right on schedule. 

After months of dry weather, drought is translating into wildfires and burn bans.