Recent rains have left behind enough water to lift the drought watch advisory in 49 Virginia counties, including all in NoVA and the Northern Piedmont region.
The following nearby counties are no longer under drought watch advisories:
- Northern Virginia: Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, Arlington, and Fairfax counties;
- Northern Piedmont: Greene, Madison, Rappahannock, Orange, Culpeper, Louisa, Spotsylvania, and Stafford counties, and the City of Fredericksburg.
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality said that much of the commonwealth has experienced above average precipitation in the past month.
The drought watch had been issued in September after there was little rain over the summer.
While NoVA is no longer under a drought watch advisory, 15 counties still are and another seven counties remain in a drought warning advisory.
The counties still facing an imminent drought are in the Shenandoah region. They are Augusta, Rockingham, Shenandoah, Frederick, Page, Warren, and Clarke counties.
The Virginia Drought Monitoring Task Force expects conditions will improve in the coming days.
“Groundwater levels while somewhat improved throughout the commonwealth, remain below the 5th percentile within the Big Sandy and Shenandoah regions,” a news release said.
Feature image courtesy Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
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