BY JIMMY SHOCKLEY, Eastern Shore Post —
The Eastern Shore and region are in the midst of a months-long drought, with no sign of relief.
Roman Miller, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Wakefield, said the drought actually began last fall and compounded into this spring, when we “didn’t get much rain at all.”
Miller also said it would take about 10 inches of rain in one month to end the drought.
The Virginia Farm Bureau reports that dry weather around the state pushed back spring planting.
The dry weather has continued as farmers with irrigated land have had the extra expense of running pumps to water their crops.
The U.S. Drought Monitor has five levels of drought that it measures from a D0, or “abnormally dry,” to a D4, or “exceptional drought.”
The website currently has the majority of the Eastern Shore listed as a D3 level, or an “extreme drought.”
The D3 level spans most of Accomack County and northern Northampton County.
The rest of the Eastern Shore is categorized as a D2 level, or “severe drought.”
The Virginia Tech Eastern Shore Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Painter has recorded less than average monthly rainfall in eight of the last nine months. The average is calculated from data that goes back 86 years.
From January through June of 2025, the center recorded a monthly average of 4.37 inches of rain. In the first six months of 2026, it recorded 2.69 inches per month, for a total of 16.14 inches in the entire year so far.
The station’s 86-year chart shows the first half of 2026 is the driest first six months of a year since 2010, when it recorded just 11.98 inches of rain.
“It’s hard to say when it will improve,” Miller said.
