An abundance of rain in recent weeks has alleviated the drought plaguing Northern Virginia, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) says.
The department announced this morning (Monday) that it has lifted drought advisories for the entire Commonwealth, including a drought watch for Fairfax County and the rest of Northern Virginia that had been in place since September.
This is the first day since June 20, 2024 that Virginia has been entirely free of drought advisories, DEQ says. Drought watches were lifted for a total of 12 counties based on recommendations from the Virginia Drought Monitoring Task Force, which met on June 10.
“The past two weeks have brought plentiful rainfall over the entirety of the Commonwealth, further improving soil moisture and surface water flows within all major watersheds,” DEQ said. “… Storage volumes at all major water supply reservoirs remain at normal levels.”
According to DEQ, groundwater levels have also improved throughout the state, though there are “a few wells” in Northern Virginia, the Eastern Shore, Roanoke and Shenandoah where below-normal levels of water were still observed.
Drought has been a concern in the D.C. region throughout the past year. DEQ warned last June that a “significant drought” was imminent in Northern Virginia and Shenandoah due to high temperatures and insufficient rain.
The warning was lifted in August in the wake of Tropical Storm Debby, but DEQ reinstated a drought watch advisory for Northern Virginia on Sept. 24.
After an unusually wet May, Fairfax County has seen roughly twice as much rain so far in June as “normal,” according to preliminary data from Dulles International Airport reported to the National Weather Service (NWS).
As of 2:26 a.m. today, Dulles has recorded 4.74 inches of rain in June, including 1.52 inches yesterday (Sunday) that broke a daily record of 1.02 inches set in 2021. The airport’s normal precipitation levels for this time of June is 2.21 inches.
Flash flooding hit multiple parts of Fairfax County yesterday, with at least 6 inches of water closing Southrun Road in Lorton, Lees Corner Road in Chantilly and Ox Road in Burke, per the NWS and the Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang.
There was also some heavy rain in the region last Friday (June 13), though the Army parade in D.C. and anti-Trump protests on Saturday were largely spared.
Though DEQ has lifted its drought advisories, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) hasn’t changed the drought watch that it has kept in effect for the D.C. region since July 29, 2024.
During the watch, which was the first one called since 2010, COG has urged residents to conserve water by fixing plumbing leaks, monitoring lawn and plant watering, limiting their time in the shower and taking other voluntary steps.
