Rita-Sue Seaborn
Staff Writer

Upstate - Despite recent snows and rainfalls, South Carolina continues to remain under in severe drought conditions, State Climatologist Hope Mizzell said.

With the exceptions of Beaufort and Jasper Counties, which are listed as having moderate drought conditions, all other of the state’s counties fall under the severe drought warnings, she said.

“We are meeting today (Tuesday) to re-evaluate the conditions,” Mizzell said. “But I can tell you now that the indicators do not support on upgrade in the state.”

Although over the past several weeks, the state has had some rainfall, it has done little to alleviate the drought conditions that have plagued most of South Carolina since early last summer, she said.

“We have seen some improvements, but not significant,” she said. “We have seen improvements in running water, such as creeks and rivers, but our lakes have been slow to respond.

“And there have been little improvements in the status of our ground water,” she said.

Dave Samuhel, a meteorologist with AccuWeather, said that although South Carolina is in an “active weather pattern,” the amount of expected rainfall is not enough to help in improving the state’s drought conditions.

“South Carolina will continue to have a chance of rain in coming weeks, because it is in a fairly active weather pattern,” Samuhel said. “You may see some rain this week, especially Saturday, and again early next week, but it isn’t going to be significant.”

Samuhel said that eventually the state will see a good amount of rainfall as the weather pattern changes.

“Certainly, there will be a significant amount of rainfall in South Carolina, but not anytime soon,” he said. “And what the state will be getting over the next several weeks will not be enough to break the drought.”

S.C Department of Natural Resources Region I Captain Larry Holbrooks said that the lake levels in the upstate continue to be about 14 feet below normal.

“All lakes are down,” he said. “We are advising all boaters to slow down and navigate carefully because they are on an entirely different lake now.”

Officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have been monitoring the lakes, determining and marking sites of hazardous passages, he said.

“We are doing everything we can to keep all our boaters safe,” Holbrooks said. “But we can’t cover every area of the lakes, so we are asking boaters to also keep us advised about hazards they see and any missing buoys.”

According to Holbrooks, February is slated to be an active month on upstate lakes, with four major fishing tournaments scheduled to be held.

“The ESPN Outdoor Classic is scheduled for February 22-24, and it will be televised,” he said. “And the Women’s Bassmaster Tournament is another big event coming out of South Cove on February 20-24.”

The Junior Bass Master World Championship, scheduled for February 15-17, and the Wal-Mart fishing tournament, on February 1, will also put about 400 people on the lakes, he said.

“We have all these big events coming up, and we are doing all we can to place hazardous marker to make lake navigation safer,” Holbrooks said. “Not just for these tournaments, but for anyone boating on these lakes.”

Boaters identifying hazardous navigational areas on upstate lakes, or finding missing buoys, are asked to call the state’s Department of Natural Resources, Clemson office, at 864-654-8266, extension 17, Holbrooks said.