CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – As expected, the five days of rain in late May improved the latest U.S. Drought Monitor in parts of the Valley, southern Virginia, and Tidewater, but it did not move the needle much in the Albemarle County and Charlottesville area.
Before the rain, the Drought Monitor placed all of Nelson, Buckingham, Fluvanna, Louisa, Albemarle, Charlottesville, nearly all of Orange and the southern tip of Greene in “extreme” drought conditions.
The rainfall didn’t change it.
Accuweather senior meteorologist Tyler Roys said the area received about 2-and-a half inches of rain, “And that will somewhat probably be reflected in the update to the drought monitor.”
But any relief was only be temporary.
“And then we go kind of back into a dry period for many places in the east from Charlottesville up into Pennsylvania, so large areas go back to being dry,” Roys said. “I think a story that hasn’t necessarily gotten a lot of attention is in fact the drought that’s in the Charlottesville area that encompasses much of the MidAtlantic, Tennessee River Valley, and in much of the Southeast.”
The Drought Monitor in that large swath ranges anywhere from “severe” to “extreme,” with a portion of the Florida Panhandle in the worst drought rating possible, “exceptional.”
Roys says temperatures in the Charlottesville area have been relatively moderate as evaporation rates aren’t as high as they’ll get later in the summer, which is a reason the reservoirs remain at capacity.
He urges not to let the fact the reservoirs aren’t affected yet to create a false sense of security.
“Just kind of have to watch our water usage going forward, as the rainfall is in the short-term beneficial, in the longer term we just have to hope for some more steady rain coming later this year from the late summer into the fall.”
