North Carolina Drought Monitor: Severe to Exceptional Drought Expands While Rowan County Holds Steady

The latest U.S. Drought Monitor shows a mixed picture across North Carolina this week. While the overall percentage of the state experiencing drought declined slightly, some of the more serious drought categories expanded.

Closer to home, conditions in Rowan County remained unchanged from last week. Most of the county continues to be classified as abnormally dry, while a small portion remains in moderate drought.

The latest data is valid as of September 1, 2026.

North Carolina Drought Conditions

Here is the statewide breakdown, with each drought category separated so the percentages total 100 percent:

• No drought or abnormal dryness: 17.39%
• D0 – Abnormally Dry: 21.14%
• D1 – Moderate Drought: 40.77%
• D2 – Severe Drought: 15.48%
• D3 – Extreme Drought: 4.89%
• D4 – Exceptional Drought: 0.33%

That means 82.61% of North Carolina is currently experiencing at least abnormally dry conditions, while 61.47% of the state is in moderate drought or worse.

Severe drought or worse now covers 20.70% of North Carolina.

More Serious Drought Categories Expanded

One of the more notable changes this week is occurring within the higher drought classifications.

Last week, 18.97% of North Carolina was experiencing severe drought or worse. That has increased to 20.70% this week.

Extreme drought or worse increased from 4.98% to 5.22%.

Exceptional drought, the highest category on the U.S. Drought Monitor scale, also increased slightly from 0.25% to 0.33%.

At the same time, the percentage of North Carolina experiencing moderate drought or worse actually decreased slightly, falling from 62.33% last week to 61.47% this week.

So while the overall footprint of drought has changed relatively little, some areas already experiencing drought have deteriorated into more serious categories.

Rowan County Remains Unchanged

There was no change in Rowan County's drought status this week.

When the cumulative Drought Monitor statistics are separated into individual categories, Rowan County's current breakdown is:

• No drought or abnormal dryness: 0%
• D0 – Abnormally Dry: 91.05%
• D1 – Moderate Drought: 8.95%
• D2 – Severe Drought: 0%
• D3 – Extreme Drought: 0%
• D4 – Exceptional Drought: 0%

This is identical to last week's numbers.

The entire county remains at least abnormally dry, but only 8.95% of Rowan County is currently classified in drought.

The remaining 91.05% is classified as abnormally dry. D0 is not technically considered drought but indicates an area that is either entering drought or recovering from drought conditions.

There is currently no severe, extreme or exceptional drought anywhere in Rowan County.

A Dramatic Change From Three Months Ago

The longer-term comparison shows just how much drought conditions have improved in Rowan County since early summer.

On June 2, 100% of Rowan County was experiencing severe drought or worse, and 85.75% of the county was classified in extreme drought.

Today, none of Rowan County is experiencing severe or extreme drought.

That is a substantial improvement over a three-month period.

However, the fact that 100% of the county remains at least abnormally dry indicates that dryness remains an issue despite the improvement.

A Big Difference From One Year Ago

The year-over-year comparison tells another interesting story.

On September 2, 2025, 100% of Rowan County was free from drought and abnormal dryness.

This week, none of the county is classified as free from drought or abnormal dryness.

Instead, 91.05% is abnormally dry and 8.95% is experiencing moderate drought.

That illustrates how significantly conditions can change from one year to the next.

What Happens Next?

The U.S. Drought Monitor is a snapshot of conditions rather than a forecast. Each week's assessment incorporates precipitation, temperature, soil moisture, streamflow and other indicators along with observations and input from local experts.

For our area, attention now turns to this weekend.

A cold front is expected to move through the Carolinas Saturday into Sunday, bringing our next opportunity for more widespread showers and thunderstorms.

How much rain falls — and where the heaviest rain occurs — will be important when it comes to whether Rowan County's drought conditions improve in future updates.

For now, Rowan County remains exactly where it was last week: 91.05% abnormally dry and 8.95% in moderate drought.

I'll continue tracking drought conditions across Rowan County and North Carolina with each weekly update.