{"id":4258,"date":"2026-07-09T20:09:02","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T20:09:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4258"},"modified":"2026-07-09T20:09:02","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T20:09:02","slug":"more-storms-possible-in-the-triangle-after-rain-dumps-inches-during-drought","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4258","title":{"rendered":"More storms possible in the Triangle after rain dumps inches during drought"},"content":{"rendered":"

AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n

Read our AI Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

Buckets of rain poured on parts of the state, including in the Triangle, providing short-term relief to an intense holiday heat wave and long-term drought.<\/p>\n

Read more This NC destination ranks among nation\u2019s best places to visit. Why it\u2019s special<\/a><\/p>\n

More rain is in the Triangle\u2019s future<\/b>, but local experts say it\u2019s not enough to get the area out of the drought.<\/p>\n

\u201cStill a lot of locations struggling with water, and we\u2019ll continue to because just a few days of rainfall over several weeks and months to really come out of this,\u201d said Barrett Smith, a senior service hydrologist with the National Weather Service said in a media briefing Thursday, July 9. \u201cHappy to see the rain, and we\u2019ll continue to take whatever we can get. But we continue to seeing significant impacts from this ongoing drought.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parts of northern Wake County, Durham and Orange counties saw 4-5 inches of rain<\/a>, while other southern portions of the Triangle saw barely a half-inch. On Wednesday, July 8, there were reports of hail in Clayton, Cary and Holly Springs, among others.<\/p>\n

Rain is less likely than it has been this week on Thursday, July 9, and Friday, but it will remain warm until a cold front brings possible thunderstorms and cooler temperatures<\/b> to central North Carolina.<\/p>\n

Scattered thunderstorms are forecasted in the area, especially in the afternoon and evening, Smith said, with most areas expecting less than a quarter-inch of rain but some places could see another inch.<\/p>\n

Holly Springs became the latest Triangle town<\/a> to add water restrictions, joining Raleigh, Durham and Wake Forest, among others. And Raleigh leaders gave city staff greater authority to enact stricter regulations.<\/p>\n

Those restrictions, stage 2, would effectively ban lawn watering except by certain water-efficient methods<\/b>.<\/p>\n

The council did that because stage 1 restrictions have not reduced water demand. In fact, water demand has gone up<\/u><\/a> when compared to last year.<\/p>\n

Read more Large gas leak in downtown Durham secured after businesses near ballpark evacuated<\/a><\/p>\n

Raleigh Water Assistant Director Ed Buchan told the council that \u201cIf we start to see a downward trend in overall demand then we can leave that [trigger] at 45%.\u201d<\/p>\n

But if water demand doesn\u2019t fall, the city wants the flexibility to restrict water usage even further<\/b>, he said.<\/p>\n

The day after significant rainfall doesn\u2019t typically draw as much water because people aren\u2019t watering their lawns, he said. It\u2019s hot, dry days when people do so that puts strain on the city\u2019s water resources.<\/p>\n

But, in order to alleviate water restrictions, North Carolina not only needs more rain but for it to fall where it matters.<\/p>\n

\u201cParts of the Triangle saw more than 4 inches of rain or more this past week, but to substantially improve our drinking water supplies, it has to rain upstream of the reservoirs,\u201d said Linwood Peele, a supervisor with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Division of Water, in a news release. \u201cIt matters where the rain falls, and how fast it falls. The rain helped conditions here, but we need the lakes and reservoirs to fill back up, the groundwater and aquifers replenished and soil moisture restored.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nine counties, including parts of Wake, Durham and Orange counties, are in exceptional drought, the highest drought rating. About half of the state\u2019s counties (46) are in extreme drought, and another 31 are in severe drought.<\/p>\n

Streamflow<\/b>, the flow of water in streams, and groundwater<\/b>, the water that exists under the Earth\u2019s surface, levels are both below normal or at record lows in parts of the state, according to the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does help when we have rainfall like this, it helps because people don\u2019t need to use as much water for irrigation or outdoor water use,\u201d said Peele. \u201cBut to really help, we need those reservoirs to refill, and that will take time. We\u2019re in a huge deficit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Argentine soccer body has poured millions into Miami. FBI wants to know why<\/a><\/p>\n

Reporter Nolan Wilkinson contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Heavy rains fell across the Triangle, easing heat but not ending the drought; parts of Wake, Durham and Orange remain under severe restrictions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3636,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\nMore storms possible in the Triangle after rain dumps inches during drought - Durham Moving Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4258\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"More storms possible in the Triangle after rain dumps inches during drought - Durham Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Heavy rains fell across the Triangle, easing heat but not ending the drought; parts of Wake, Durham and Orange remain under severe restrictions.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4258\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Durham Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-09T20:09:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4258#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4258\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85\"},\"headline\":\"More storms possible in the Triangle after rain dumps inches during drought\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-09T20:09:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4258\"},\"wordCount\":697,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4258#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/b452e8540a1e64b62d074c1537163ac1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Read today's Edition\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4258#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4258\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4258\",\"name\":\"More storms possible in the Triangle after rain dumps inches during drought - Durham Moving Hub\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4258#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4258#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/b452e8540a1e64b62d074c1537163ac1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-09T20:09:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4258#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4258\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4258#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/b452e8540a1e64b62d074c1537163ac1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/b452e8540a1e64b62d074c1537163ac1.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675,\"caption\":\"Connor Fox, 21, of Durham discovers the wreck of a small fishing boat on a partially exposed lake bed while fishing along the shoreline of Newcombs Lake on Friday, June 26, 2026. 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