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Campus News
The Clarion \ December 7, 2016
Drought and Fire
and Rain, Oh My!
By Jeni Welch
staff writer
The drought in 2016 began in March and only
became more severe as the year progressed.
Some areas in the mountains are looking at 25
inches below average rainfall.
March of2016 was 2.27 inches below average
and the number has simply continued to rise dur
ing the year. In June, Transylvania County was
announced to be in a severe drought. In October,
Transylvania moved into the category of extreme
drought along with Buncombe and Henderson
Counties. During this month, the French Broad
River was only running at 471 cubic feet per
second (cfs) instead of the normal 1,020 cfs.
Now in December, rain has finally fallen and
there is a hint of winter weather coming into
the mix this upcoming weekend. However, the
damage from the drought is far from done.
This severe drought has led to numerous
wildfires across the south and in response cre
ated terrible air quality for surrounding areas.
In WNC, wildfires have burned about 70,000
acres this year.
The air quality has been as much a visual an
noyance as a threat to many locals. Transylvania
County was under a code red air quality which
meant that everyone was advised to avoid pro
longed outdoor activities. The elderly, children
and those with heart conditions and respiratory
ailments should avoid outdoor activity as much
as possible under these conditions.
At the end of November, there were around
2,100 firefighters that remained in WNC to con
tinue battling the wildfires. They had 3 aircrafts
in assistants and 42 states were represented.
The firefighters worked 16-hour days in two
week shifts.
Most of the larger fires in Western North Caro
lina were between 100 and 85 percent contained
at the beginning of this week. The continuation
of rain in the forecast is assisting in restricting
the rest of the flames from getting out of control
again as of this past Sunday.
While conditions were perfect for fires to
spread quickly, there was no lightening in the
area during the beginning stages of any of the
fires. “In North Carolina, 99 percent of our fires
are human caused,” said Lisa Jennings, public
information officer with the U.S. Forest Service.
This could include a careless cigarette, campfires
getting out of control or arson.
There was a burn ban in effect for Transyl
vania County along with 46 other counties in
North Carolina. Luckily, the much needed rain
has removed the ban for Transylvania and 31
other counties.
Jon Rieck, the U.S. Forest Service fire analyst,
confirmed it is the same pattern being view in
Southern California and in the Rocky Moun
tains. In his career, Rieck has never had to fly
east to assist with wildfires.
If the mountains of WNC want to be out of the
deficit rainfall, there will need to be more than
180 percent of an average rain and snow before
March 1,2017.
The new weather is a complete change of sea
son for the warm fall weather that has remained
throughout November. The Farmer’s Almanac,
which is correct 50 percent of the time, is pre
dicting a wet winter with “penetrating cold.”
Opposite to the Farmer’s Almanac, The Climate
Prediction Center is predicting a warmer than
normal winter with higher than normal chances
for a below average amount of rain and snow.
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Umbrellas and jackets came out around campus as rain finally hit Brevard after weeks of drought.
Photo courtesy of John Padgett