 modern bald cypress tree at Jamestown |  bald cypress knees at James Smith's Fort |
You can see that by September, 1999, the 1999 drought affected eastern Virginia/North Carolina less severely than the rest of the Southeast. Though June, 1998, Virginia was getting plenty of precipitation... but then the faucet ran dry for over a year.
The most recent drought demonstrated that water distribution has two facets - how Mother Nature provides it, and how we humans capture and distribute it. One is a science story, the other is political. If you subscribe to the Washington Post or the Richmond Time-Dispatch newspaper, you'll find lots of stories about distribution - because that's the only thing we can "do" about the weather.
However, an occasional prayer service will make the news. Nearly 80 religious leaders and local government officials assembled in Roanoke on September 19, 1999 to pray for rain... and for better relationships among local governments squabbling over the response to the drought.
Back in the early 1930's, officially-sanctioned prayer was a common response to the drought. Look at the Palmer Drought Intensity Index for Southwest Virginia (climate division #6) and you can see what years were the worst drought of the 20th Century in Virginia. Look closer at the Palmer Drought Severity Index for Virginia's 6 climate divisions in 1931, and you can see why the mayors and farmers were asking for divine intervention.
Remember, Virginia's economy before WWII was based on agriculture far more than today. John Steinbeck made the 1930's drought famous with his book, Of Mice and Men, and the migration of Dust Bowl refugees fleeing to California is now part of American lore - but Virginia's farmers struggled through those same hard times too.
Studies of tree rings, where the growth of bald cypress trees from southeastern Virginia can be measured back into the 1500's, suggest Virginia's worst drought in historical times occurred... right when the English settlers landed at Jamestown. The saltiness of the water in the summertime at Jamestown peaked then, perhaps debilitating the colonists through subtle, slow salt poisoning.
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modern bald cypress tree at Jamestown | bald cypress knees at James Smith's Fort |
Why doesn't the severity of the drought index for this century match exactly the peaks and valleys of rainfall above and below average? Because "drought" is a reflection of both precipitation and demand for water by vegetation. Summertime demand is much higher than outside the growing season. A rainfall deficit in July-September is far more damaging to forests and crops than a deficit in mid-winter.
One measure of how far Virginia has shifted from an agricultural economy is how drought is reported. Notice the news stories are now about water rationing impacts on washing cars, watering lawns, and other characteristics of our urban/suburban lifestyle. Occasionally a visual-rich event of farm impacts will make the big-city news, like hay being helicoptered to drought-affected cattle, but in the 1990's the most coverage has been political. The cities of Roanoke and Bedford implemented mandatory water restrictions, while the surrounding counties (also named Roanoke and Bedford) requested only voluntary limits on use.
The Washington Post covered the equivalent story in Northern Virginia. Maryland imposed mandatory restrictions, while the counties of Fairfax, Arlington, Alexandria, and Prince William requested just voluntary action - even though both areas relied primarily upon the same Potomac River as the source.
However, if you live in Stuart, or Crewe, or Louisa during the next drought, you can still see the town merchants will be struggling right along with the farmers, just as in the 1930's. Their radio stations and weekly newspapers will be reporting how the drought forces cattle prices lower and lower as pastures dry up. The hay intended for the supplemental feeding in the winter has to be fed to the cattle in August, and ranchers are forced to liquidate their herds at the same time. The law of supply-and-demand will cause cattle prices to rise later, but after every drought it seems fewer and fewer people get back into the ranching business in Virginia.
Also, drought is when you get a lot less rain than normal. The "climate normal" is the key - it's not always a drought when there's no rain in the summer.