As anyone can tell by brown lawns in Richmond County, the soil is dry even though one drought index has the county in a normal zone.

An isolated shower was noted in Rockingham Wednesdy afternoon, but County Ranger Alan Clark, N.C. Division of Forestry said fire conditions in the county are now critical.

“We had 18 fires during the July 4 weekend and 13 were caused by fireworks,” he said. Some 12.8 acres were burned.

“Because of quick action by firefighters in the county, damage to woodland was kept low,” Clark said.

“This is a difficult time and we hope people will be more careful with their remaining fireworks and burning,” he said.

The “abnormally dry” designation for drought by the N.C. Drought Management Advisory Council is moving westward across the state now being in Robeson County moving into Scotland County covering 41 counties of the east.

Progress on drought can be monitored at www.ncdrought.org.

Precipitation

The Hamlet Water Treatment Plant Tuesday said the last recorded rain there was .01 inches on June 16. The last “significant” rain was 2.6 inches recorded on June 11.

Even so, the Hamlet Water Lake, while not overflowing, is still in good shape for water content.

Saturday night was the busiest time for firefighters, Clark said.

Because of conditions using the Keetch-Byram Drought Index for fire potential assessment of moisture in soils, Clark said the county plan for increased alert for fires has been raised.

So far this year, there have been 129 fires compared to 117 last year during the same period. He said last year during this time, the state had been under a burning ban.

Conditions

“Long range forecasts of no rain, dry days, 90-degree temperatures, and we are approaching drought conditions,” Clark said.

During the weekend, the forest ranger’s office assisted the fire departments of East Rockingham, Northside, Ellerbe, Mountain Creek, Hamlet, Rockingham and Hoffman.

Frank McKay, director of Richmond County Emergency Management and 911, said the office had an abnormally amount of fire calls putting pressure on emergency services.

He said while some fire departments were fighting fires in one location in their district, a call would come in for another fire elsewhere in the district.

“We haven’t heard a lot about drought conditions, but Richmond County is very dry, drier than most people realize,” McKay said.

Droughts

There are three types of drought, according to the N.C. Drought Management Advisory Council.

Hydrological drought refers to deficiencies in surface and subsurface water supplies. Most of Richmond County is now in a “moderate hydrologic drought” except for the Mangum area, according to the N. C. Division of Water Resources.

When precipitation is reduced or deficient for a long time, this storage is reflected in declining surface and subsurface water levels.

Agricultural drought occurs when there isn’t enough soil moisture to meet the needs of a particular crop at a particular time.

Agricultural drought is typically evident after a meteorological drought but before a hydrological drought.

A meteorological drought is usually based on precipitation’s departure from normal over some period of time. This is the first indicator of drought.

n Contact reporter Tom MacCallum at 997-3111, ext. 15; e-mail tmaccallum@yourdailyjournal.com.