THINGS MUCH BETTER...AFTER THE RAIN!

   The North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council announced this week that Henderson County and 36 other Western North Carolina counties are now in the EXTREME drought category...that removes Henderson County from the worst, or EXCEPTIONAL, drought classification that Henderson and some other nearby counties have been in for many months.

    The change to the EXTREME, and much less severe, drought category apparently came after the remnants of tropical storm Fay dumped large, and in many cases record-setting, amounts of rain on the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge, much of which is in Henderson County, especially in the Bearwallow and Sugarloaf Mountain, Bat Cave, and eastern sections of Henderson County.

    Meanwhile, the Mills River, Hendersonville's primary source for water, appeared to level off, with flow-levels in excess of 140 cubic feet of water per second Thursday afternoon.  The river had reacked a peak flow of over 1600 cfs at the height of this week's heaviet rain, then began to fall into Thursday morning...and began to level off, with scattered showers falling throughout the day on Thursday. 

    City officials say the river will have to sustain an accdeptable level of flow before the current mandatory water restrictions can be lifted. 

    Hendersonville's rainfall for the month of August, even after this week's heavy downpours, continues to be BELOW average for August...and the rainfall deficit for the year continues close to 10 inches.