North Carolina, 2022

Drought in North Carolina, January 1 to 4, 2022

January 1 to 4, 2022 · NWS RNK · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

S. 5 inches of mainly rain.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
3

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS RNK wrote it up.

Pockets of Severe Drought (D2 per the U.S. Drought Monitor classifications for drought severity) during December 2021 lingered into the first days of January 2022, when a slow moving low pressure system, tapping deep moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, produced 2 to locally 3.5 inches of mainly rain. This allowed for a short-term improvement in both stream flows and moisture in the top soil layer that persisted through the remainder of the month. By January 4th, all pockets of Severe Drought within the NWS Blacksburg Hydrologic Service Area were improved to Moderate Drought (D1 per the U.S. Drought Monitor classifications for drought severity) due to the combination of this rain and minimal agricultural concerns due to winter dormancy.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Blacksburg, VA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 31, 10:41 PM EST, 1 hour 19 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 31, 10:41 PM EST, 1 hour 19 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 31, 3:16 PM EST, 8 hours 44 minutes before
Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Blacksburg VA
316 PM EST Fri Dec 31 2021

NCZ003>006-019-020-VAZ032>035-043>047-058-059-012030-
Surry-Stokes-Rockingham-Caswell-Wilkes-Yadkin-Patrick-Franklin-
Bedford-Amherst-Henry-Pittsylvania-Campbell-Appomattox-Buckingham-
Halifax-Charlotte-
316 PM EST Fri Dec 31 2021

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for north central North Carolina,
northwest North Carolina, central Virginia, south central Virginia,
southwest Virginia and west central Virginia.

.DAY ONE...This afternoon and tonight.

Hazardous weather is not expected at this time.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Saturday through Thursday.

Breezy conditions ahead of a cold front are expected Saturday with
gusts up to 25 MPH. Following the front, lingering moisture and
rapidly dropping temperatures will result in a change over to
snowfall later Sunday into Monday. Amounts are still uncertain, but
current accumulation is projected to be generally less than an inch.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Spotter activation is not expected at this time.

NCZ002-VAZ010>014-016>020-022>024-WVZ044-507-012030-
Alleghany NC-Bland-Giles-Wythe-Pulaski-Montgomery-Carroll-Floyd-
Craig-Alleghany VA-Bath-Roanoke-Botetourt-Rockbridge-Monroe-
Eastern Greenbrier-
316 PM EST Fri Dec 31 2021

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for northwest North Carolina,
southwest Virginia, west central Virginia and southeast West
Virginia.

.DAY ONE...This afternoon and tonight.

Hazardous weather is not expected at this time.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Saturday through Thursday.

Breezy conditions ahead of a cold front are expected Saturday with
gusts up to 30 MPH, especially along ridge tops. Following the
front, lingering moisture and rapidly dropping temperatures will
result in a change over to snowfall later Sunday into Monday.
Amounts are still uncertain, but current accumulation is projected
to be generally 1 to 2 inches.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Spotter activation is not expected at this time.

NCZ001-018-VAZ007-009-015-WVZ042-043-508-012030-
Ashe-Watauga-Tazewell-Smyth-Grayson-Mercer-Summers-
Western Greenbrier-
316 PM EST Fri Dec 31 2021

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for northwest North Carolina,
southwest Virginia and southeast West Virginia.

.DAY ONE...This afternoon and tonight.

There is a low probability for widespread hazardous weather.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Saturday through Thursday.

Breezy conditions ahead of a cold front are expected Saturday with
gusts up to 30 MPH, especially along ridge tops. Following the
front, lingering moisture and rapidly dropping temperatures will
result in a change over to snowfall later Sunday into Monday.
Amounts are still uncertain, but current accumulation is projected
to be generally 1 to 2 inches, with higher amounts possible at
higher elevations.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Spotter activation is not expected at this time.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Caswell

When
January 1, 12:00 AM EST to January 4, 7:00 AM EST
Where
Caswell forecast zone
Reported by
Drought Monitor
Coordinates
36.393, -79.334 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Severe drought conditions, declared for the northern half of Caswell County at the end of November, persisted through January 4th due to precipitation that was significantly below normal during this period. At the beginning of January, NASA SPoRT LIS data estimated that average soil moisture in the top 100 cm was below the 2nd percentile. Local streamflows were below normal per the USGS WaterWatch website. There were few impacts to agriculture and livestock given the winter time of the year, affecting both winter wheat as well as cover crops designed to reduce soil erosion with only miniscule growth. It is not known if the poor growth resulted in any financial impact. Severe drought conditions were improved to moderate drought on the January 4th edition of the U.S. Drought Monitor after 2 to locally 3.5 inches of rain fell across Caswell County during January 1st to the 3rd.

Drought, Yadkin

When
January 1, 12:00 AM EST to January 4, 7:00 AM EST
Where
Yadkin forecast zone
Reported by
Drought Monitor
Coordinates
36.161, -80.665 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Entering January 2022, Severe drought conditions had been in effect for the southwestern corner of Yadkin County since December 7th due to several weeks of precipitation that was significantly below normal. NASA SPoRT LIS data estimated that average soil moisture in the top 100 cm soil at the start of January was below the 2nd percentile. Local streamflows remained below normal through the month per the USGS WaterWatch website. Severe drought conditions were improved to Moderate drought on the January 4th edition of the U.S. Drought Monitor after 2.5 to locally 3 inches of rain fell across southwest Yadkin County during January 1st to the 3rd.

Drought, Wilkes

When
January 1, 12:00 AM EST to January 4, 7:00 AM EST
Where
Wilkes forecast zone
Reported by
Drought Monitor
Coordinates
36.206, -81.163 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Entering January 2022, Severe drought conditions had been in effect for the southeastern corner of Wilkes County since December 7th due to several weeks of precipitation that was significantly below normal. NASA SPoRT LIS data estimated that average soil moisture in the top 100 cm soil at the start of January was below the 2nd percentile. Local streamflows remained below normal through the month per the USGS WaterWatch website. Severe drought conditions were improved to moderate drought on the January 4th edition of the U.S. Drought Monitor after 2.5 to locally 3 inches of rain fell across southeast Wilkes County during January 1st to the 3rd.

What these are

Drought
A drought reaching severe (D2) or worse on the US Drought Monitor, or with notable impacts.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in North Carolina in 2022Every state in 2022This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, January 2022

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1004814, 1004817, 1004820.