000
AXUS74 KMRX 162000
DGTMRX
DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
300 PM EDT FRI JAN 16 2009
...DRASTIC IMPROVEMENT IN THE DROUGHT STATUS IN MOST AREAS FROM LAST
WEEK'S RAIN...
SYNOPSIS...
WIDESPREAD HEAVY RAINFALL AND EVEN FLOODING OCCURRED IN NEARLY EVERY COUNTY IN
THE REGION. THIS HAS IMPROVED THE DROUGHT STATUS OF ALL AREAS. NO D2 AREAS EXIST
IN THE REGION. HENCE THIS WILL BE THE LAST DROUGHT STATEMENT UNTIL A D2 CATEGORY
ASSERTS ITSELF IN EITHER EAST TENNESSEE...EXTREME SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA...OR
CHEROKEE OR CLAY COUNTIES IN NORTH CAROLINA.
ALL GEOGRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS BELOW ARE APPROXIMATE:
D1 (MODERATE) DROUGHT COVERS CHEROKEE AND CLAY COUNTIES IN NORTH CAROLINA, ALL
OF WISE, RUSSELL, AND SCOTT COUNTIES, AND HALF OF LEE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
IN VIRGINIA. IT ALSO COVER EXTREME EAST AND NORTHEAST TENNESSEE EAST OF A LINE
FROM AROUND CLEVELAND TO THE GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK TO NEAR
GREENEVILLE TO AROUND KYLES FORD.
D0 (ABNORMALLY DRY) CONDITIONS COVER ALL OF EAST TENNESSEE, AND HALF OF LEE AND
WASHINGTON COUNTIES IN VIRGINIA. IN WESTERN MARION COUNTY, TENNESSEE CONDITIONS
ARE NEAR NORMAL.
SUMMARY OF IMPACTS...
ISOLATED WELLS AND SPRINGS IN THE DRIEST AREAS STILL POSE A PROBLEM FOR SOME
RESIDENTS BUT WIDESPREAD WATER SHORTAGES ARE NOT REPORTED. AGRICULTURE IS LESS
ACTIVE BUT RECENT RAINS HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO SOIL MOISTURE. EXTREMELY COLD
TEMPERATURES HAVE KEPT SOILS FROM EVAPORATING.
CLIMATE SUMMARY...
SINCE DECEMBER 1, 2008 MOST AREAS HAVE RECEIVED COPIOUS RAINFALL, EVEN SETTING
SOME RECORDS. SINCE JANUARY 1, 2009 RAINFALL HAS BEEN SUCH THAT WIDESPREAD
FLOODING OCCURRED NEARLY EVERYWHERE. THIS HAS BEEN THE LARGEST CONTRIBUTION TO
THE IMPROVEMENT IN THE DROUGHT STATUS.
PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK...
THROUGH THE END OF JANUARY, TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO BE NEAR NORMAL AND
PRECIPITATION TO ABOVE NORMAL FOR THE PERIOD.
THE PERIOD OF FEBRUARY THROUGH APRIL IS EXPECTED TO BE WARMER THAN NORMAL WITH
ABOUT NORMAL PRECIPITATION WHICH, IF THIS VERIFIES, WOULD MEAN MORE RAIN THAN
SNOW, IN GENERAL.
THE LATEST OUTLOOK (ISSUED JANUARY 15) IS FOR THE DROUGHT TO IMPROVE REGIONWIDE,
ESPECIALLY IN VIRGINIA AND THE MOUNTAINS OF EAST TENNESSEE.
HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK...
STREAMS IN THE AREA ARE NEAR NORMAL OR ABOVE NORMAL FOR THE PERIOD.
THE OUTLOOK FOR LARGE TRIBUTARIES OF THE TENNESSEE RIVER THROUGH EARLY SPRING OF
2009 IS FOR A NORMAL CHANCE OF FLOODING. THIS WILL DEPEND LARGELY ON THE AMOUNT
OF RAIN OVER THE LONG TERM AND THE NUMBER OF HEAVY RAIN EVENTS IN THE PERIOD.
IT WILL ALSO DEPEND ON THE HYDROGRAPHY OF THE INDIVIDUAL STREAM. THINGS LIKE
LOCAL GEOGRAPHY, WHETHER SINKHOLES ACCOUNT FOR MUCH UNDERGROUND STORAGE, LOCAL
LAND USE, FLORA, AND SO FORTH, WILL ALSO HAVE AN INFLUENCE.
NEXT ISSUANCE DATE...
NO FURTHER DROUGHT STATEMENTS WILL BE ISSUED UNLESS A D2 CATEGORY REARS ITS UGLY
HEAD AGAIN. HOWEVER, FOR MORE INFORMATION SEE THE WEB PAGES BELOW OR CONTACT THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MORRISTOWN, TENNESSEE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS
STATEMENT.
RELATED WEB SITES...
FOR ONE-STOP SHOPPING ON THE DROUGHT IN THE REGION GO TO
HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/MRX/HYDRO/DROUGHT07/MAIN.PHP
OR YOU CAN GO TO WWW.WEATHER.GOV THEN CLICK ON THE EAST TENNESSEE
REGION, AND THEN CLICK ON THE DROUGHT INFORMATION LINK AT THE BOTTOM
OF THE MORRISTOWN, TENNESSEE HOME PAGE.
YOU MAY ALSO VISIT WWW.TVA.GOV FOR MORE INFORMATION ON LAKES LEVELS,
STREAMFLOWS, AND RAINFALL IN THE TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY SYSTEM.
STREAMFLOW DATA CAN ALSO BE OBTAINED FROM THE UNITED STATES
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY AT HTTP://WATERDATA.USGS.GOV/NWIS/RT AND THEN
CLICKING ON YOUR STATE OF INTEREST.
ADDITIONAL LONG TERM STREAMFLOW FORECASTS CAN BE OBTAINED AT THE NWS
MORRISTOWN "ADVANCED HYDROLOGIC PREDICTION SERVICES" WEBSITE AT
HTTP://AHPS.SRH.NOAA.GOV/INDEX.PHP?WFO=MRX
THE TENNESSEE DIVISION OF FORESTRY HAS FIRE INFORMATION AT
HTTP://BURNSAFETN.ORG
THE VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY HAS FIRE INFORMATION AT
WWW.DOF.VIRGINIA.GOV
THE NORTH CAROLINA DIVISION OF FOREST RESOURCES IS LOCATED AT
WWW.DFR.STATE.NC.US
FOR SPECIFIC DATA, DROUGHT INDICES, AND THE NATIONAL DROUGHT PICTURE
WITH CLICKABLE ZOOMING, GO TO HTTP://WWW.DROUGHT.UNL.EDU/DM/
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...
APPRECIATION FOR THE DATA IN THIS DOCUMENT GOES TO THE TENNESSEE VALLEY
AUTHORITY (TVA), UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY (USGS), THE STATES OF
TENNESSEE AND NORTH CAROLINA, THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, THE U.S.
ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS (USACE), THE TENNESSEE DIVISION OF FORESTRY,
THE VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY, THE NORTH CAROLINA DIVISION OF
FOREST RESOURCES, THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE (NPS), THE NATIONAL
FOREST SERVICE (NFS), THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA AT LINCOLN FOR
HOSTING THE DROUGHT MONITOR WEBSITE, AND NUMEROUS COUNTY, CITY, AND
UTILITY OFFICIALS. ALSO, THANKS TO VARIOUS MEDIA OUTLETS INCLUDING
TELEVISION AND RADIO STATIONS AND NEWSPAPERS, FOR ASKING THE
QUESTIONS THE DRIVE THE GATHERING OF DATA AND INFORMATION ON DROUGHT
IMPACTS.
QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS...
FOR MORE INFORMATION OR FOR MEDIA INTERVIEWS PLEASE CONTACT:
BRIAN BOYD
SENIOR SERVICE HYDROLOGIST/METEOROLOGIST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
5974 COMMERCE BLVD.
MORRISTOWN, TN 37814
423-586-1964 (MEDIA ONLY; FOR IMMEDIATE RESPONSE)
423-586-2296 (ALL OTHER CALLS; MAY GET VOICE MAIL)
423-586-6429 (FOR IMMEDIATE RESPONSE, NON-MEDIA CALLS)
EMAIL: BRIAN.BOYD@NOAA.GOV
WEBSITE: WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/MRX
NOTE: IN THE EVENT THE ABOVE PERSON IS NOT AVAILABLE, OTHER STAFF MEMBERS WILL
BE ABLE TO HELP YOU.
www.weather.gov 
National Weather Service Forecast Office
