SC climatologist speaks on drought, flooding after Tropical Storm Debby

(WPDE) — Rainfall in South Carolina has seen increasing levels compared to recent years, and some record rainfall helped the Pee Dee region to get out of a severe drought.

While rain can be good for farms and streams, the environment is continuously changing and will be seen by our weather patterns for years to come.

Places like Myrtle Beach are used to seeing about 27.32 inches of rain around this time of year, but with Tropical Storm Debby coming in early, the average is ten inches above normal now and sitting at 37 inches.

They downgraded most of the state to normal levels,” said SC State Climatologist, Hope Mizzell.

While the drought is over in areas like the Pee Dee, the rainfall that was anticipated is a lot higher than expected for this time of year.

A normal August rainfall for this area would be anywhere from four and a half to five and a half inches,” said Mizzell.

Three times the amount seen in places like Myrtle Beach and Florence raises some concern for climatologists like Mizzell.

These certainly are the things that we are seeing and that we are monitoring and indicate we are seeing some changes in these excessive rainfall events and rainfall rates,” said Mizzell.

Changes not only affect climatologists’ thoughts on the environment but also challenge farmers when it comes to their crops.

When you get that amount of rain, in a short amount of time, they can make pretty serious issues whether it’s flooding, whether it’s actual crops going underwater,” said Director of Outreach for the South Carolina Department of Agriculture, Sam Quinney.