Source: Corey Davis, NC CLIMATE OFFICE, 12/2/21


It was the driest November in a lifetime, with rainfall in retreat whether we were warm or cool. Drought has expanded and intensified after our warm, dry fall.

Dry Weather Dominates
Like an overcooked turkey in the oven, November turned out extremely dry across North Carolina. According to the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), the preliminary statewide average precipitation of only 0.76 inches ranked as our 3rd-driest November since 1895.

To find another November this dry in North Carolina, we have to go back 90 years to 1931, which fared marginally worse with 0.75 inches of rain statewide, on average. That was part of an extremely dry fall across the southern tier of the US that corresponded with the onset of the Dust Bowl in the southern Plains.

Most of the state totaled less than an inch of rain last month, and some sites particularly in the northern and western Piedmont had barely enough rain to dampen the dust.

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