The recent heat wave and a lack of rain could lead to a drought in much of Northern Virginia, including Fairfax County, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) says.
The department issued a drought warning advisory today (Monday) for the Northern Virginia and Shenandoah regions, announcing that “a significant drought is imminent.”
“Precipitation deficits in combination with increased temperatures have resulted in rapid intensification of drought throughout the majority of the Commonwealth with substantial below-normal observations noted within the Northern Virginia and Shenandoah drought evaluation regions,” DEQ said.
The rest of the state has been put under a drought watch advisory, which is intended to alert residents to “prepare for a potential drought.”
The DEQ’s Virginia Drought Monitoring Task Force determines drought conditions based on precipitation, groundwater levels, streamflow and reservoir levels.
While the Northern Virginia region has gotten approximately 104% of its usual precipitation totals since Oct. 1, 2023, there has been minimal precipitation accumulation over the past three months, particularly in the last 30 days, according to a DEQ spokesperson. The region has seen less than 0.5 inches of rain in the past 14 days.
“Combined with near record high temperatures, drought conditions have rapidly developed and intensified,” DEQ Communications Coordinator Julia Raimondi told FFXnow. “Widespread declines and much below normal surface & groundwater levels have been observed in the region with numerous stations below the 10th percentile of normal values.”
More from DEQ:
Stream flows throughout the Commonwealth are currently at or below the 25th percentile of normal values for all 13 drought evaluation regions. Groundwater levels for monitoring wells in the Climate Response Network have shown continued declines within the northern, central, and eastern portions of the state. Five regions are currently below the 25th percentile including the Big Sandy, Northern Coastal Plain, Northern Piedmont, Upper James, and Southeast Virginia. Levels are also currently below the 5th percentile for five drought evaluation regions including New River, Northern Virginia, Shenandoah, Roanoke, and York James.
According to National Weather Service data, temperatures in Fairfax County exceeded 100 degrees on both Saturday and Sunday (June 22-23), but there was no precipitation this weekend, despite some clouds last night.
At Dulles International Airport, the NWS has recorded just 0.28 inches of rain in June — over 3 inches less than normal, per preliminary data.
This past Saturday was the first time that D.C. reached 100 degrees since Aug. 15, 2016, though Dulles hit that mark on Sept. 6 of last year. It did, however, break the record at Dulles for June 22, surpassing the previous limit of 99 degrees in 1988, according to the Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang.
“All Virginians are encouraged to protect water supplies by minimizing water use, monitoring drought conditions, and detecting and repairing leaks,” DEQ says.
