Drought status upgraded in 11 S.C. counties

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The drought status for 11 S.C. counties, including Kershaw and Lee, has been upgraded from incipient to moderate.

The South Carolina Drought Response Committee downgraded the drought level from moderate to incipient, the first stage of drought, in Dillon and Marlboro counties during a conference call on Wednesday. The drought declaration was removed from Georgetown, Horry, Marion and Williamsburg counties, while Berkeley and Charleston counties maintained a no-drought status, according to a news release from the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.

Richland and Lexington counties were among 20 counties where the drought level remained at moderate. Anderson, Cherokee, Colleton, Greenville, Hampton, Jasper, Lancaster, Spartanburg and York joined Kershaw and Lee counties in being upgraded to moderate.

Hope Mizzell, S.C. state climatologist, said that while a few coastal counties received excessive rainfall from Hurricane Dorian, rainfall totals significantly diminished inland. Thirty-day totals ranged from 22.05 inches at a Pawleys Island reporting station to one inch in Ware Shoals.

Beaufort, Chesterfield, Darlington, Dorchester, Florence, Oconee and Pickens counties maintained incipient drought status. Aiken, Abbeville, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Calhoun, Chester, Clarendon, Edgefield, Fairfield Greenwood, Laurens, Lexington, McCormick, Newberry, Orangeburg, Richland, Saluda, Sumter and Union counties maintained moderate status.

Scott Harder, SCDNR senior hydrologist, said streamflow levels improved in the Pee Dee but remained below normal for much of the state.