{"id":3385,"date":"2026-06-18T14:06:37","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T14:06:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=3385"},"modified":"2026-06-18T14:06:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T14:06:37","slug":"drought-worsens-again-across-nc-as-exceptional-conditions-spread-in-triangle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=3385","title":{"rendered":"Drought worsens again across NC as exceptional conditions spread in Triangle"},"content":{"rendered":"
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RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) \u2014 Drought conditions continued to worsen across North Carolina this week, with exceptional drought expanding across parts of the Triangle and nearly 40% of the state now classified under extreme drought conditions.<\/p>

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The latest U.S. Drought Monitor report, released Thursday, shows 7% of North Carolina is now experiencing D4 exceptional drought, the highest level on the monitor\u2019s five-category scale. That\u2019s up from 3.01% one week ago.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, 39.72% of the state is now classified as being in D3 extreme drought, an increase from 33.81% last week.<\/p>\n

The deterioration was especially noticeable across central North Carolina, where several counties saw significant increases in areas classified as exceptional drought.<\/p>\n

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Wake County experienced one of the largest changes in the region. The latest report shows 29.71% of the county is now under D4 exceptional drought, up from 17.36% last week.<\/p>\n

Exceptional drought conditions also expanded in Orange County, rising from 87.27% to 97.3%. Durham County remained largely unchanged, with 95.78% of the county still classified as exceptional drought.<\/p>\n

Several neighboring counties reported drastic spikes as well.<\/p>\n

In Person County, 78.6% of the county is now experiencing exceptional drought, up from 16.95% last week. Franklin County saw D4 conditions climb from less than 1% of the county to 38.07%, while Granville County surged from 48.21% to 60.79%.<\/p>\n

Nash County also entered the exceptional drought category for the first time this year, with 4.03% of the county now classified as D4 drought.<\/p>

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The latest report also showed worsening conditions farther south. For the first time this year, portions of Cumberland County joined the D3 extreme drought category, with 39.69% of the county now classified under the designation.<\/p>\n