State officials have downgraded a drought warning advisory for parts of Southwest and Eastern Virginia – including the New River Valley and the Richmond area.
The Department of Environmental Quality now puts those regions in a drought watch instead, thanks to recent rain.
However, severe drought continues for much of the state – especially the Roanoke River’s drought evaluation region.
The downgrade is consistent with changes outlined in the latest update of the U.S. Drought Monitor – which shows areas of the most severe drought shrinking by about half from the previous week's update.
Spotty rain chances over the next few days should continue to provide marginal improvements.
