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A Century-Old Drought Offers Parallels to Today

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A photo of the Pigeon River rushing past a home during Tropical Storm Fred

Aug 17, 2026

For Haywood County, Five Years of Heartache Started With Fred

Folks in western North Carolina could be forgiven if time has become a blur. After all, they’ve endured a lifetime of pain and problems in the past five years. Perhaps nowhere has endured more devastating events in that time than Haywood County, a vibrant corner of the state dotted with mile-high mountains, winding rivers, and…
A photo of a bee flying above a sunflower at Dix Park in Raleigh

Aug 3, 2026

Holiday Heat Gave Way to Wet Weather in July

After hundred-degree temperatures early on, July ended with soaking rainfall that has improved, but not eliminated, drought conditions across the state. A Warm Month With a Sizzling Start Despite a late-month cooldown, our early heat waves cemented this as an overall warm July in North Carolina. The National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) reports a…
A photo of a roaring waterfall at Cooleemee Falls

Jul 27, 2026

Rapid Reaction: Heavy Rains Return, Promising Drought Relief

Our wettest rain event in more than a year soaked the state from north to south last week, quenching some drought-affected areas and potentially serving as a sign of things to come later this year. A frontal boundary from the north slowly sagged southward across the state from last Wednesday afternoon through Saturday night. At…
A photo of sun and clouds over Grandfather Mountain

Jul 1, 2026

Heat Heightens and Drought Drags On in June

The start of summer brought several waves of hot weather, plus mostly dry weather with a few late-month rain showers. For more potential rain chances, we check in on the tropics and the emerging El Niño event. Summer Sizzle Sets In Multiple rounds of hot weather made this an overall warmer-than-normal June in North Carolina.…
A photo of storm clouds over a road in Person County, NC, on May 26, 2026

Jun 4, 2026

Rain Returns in May As a Hot, Dry Spring Wraps Up

May brought widespread rainfall and some drought relief, along with typical temperatures for this time of year. However, spring was warm and dry overall, leaving us looking for better rain chances later this year. A Precipitation Bounceback A long-awaited round of rainfall late in the month made this a near-normal May in terms of precipitation.…
A map of sea surface temperature anomalies as of May 20, 2026

May 21, 2026

El Niño Looms Large Over This Hurricane Season

Big changes will be happening in the global atmosphere this summer, which could turn the tropical Atlantic from a hotbed into a ghost town, while also setting the stage for better rain chances locally by the end of the year. To break down what may happen during this hurricane season and beyond, we’re taking a…
A photo of Dr. Jared Bowden

May 11, 2026

Bowden Named SCO Director and State Climatologist

Bowden is the sixth permanent director of the office, which has been stationed at NC State since 1980.
A photo of a tractor kicking up dust in an eastern North Carolina field in April 2026

May 4, 2026

An Anomalous April Was Hot and Dry with Deepening Drought

Periods of summer-like heat and limited rainfall combined to cause drought intensification last month, which has led to new emerging impacts across the state. Untimely Temperatures Several long stretches of unseasonable temperatures boosted this to one of our warmest Aprils on record. Based on preliminary data from the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), last…
A photo of Rhodhiss Dam in 1926

Apr 30, 2026

A Century-Old Drought Offers Parallels to Today

As we remain mired in our worst statewide drought in more than 18 years, comparisons with historical droughts — especially that memorable 2007-08 event — have become common in recent weeks, including in our own assessment of the current drought and its impacts. We’ve generally labeled the 2007-08 drought as the worst in North Carolina’s…