What changed
North Carolina remains broadly dry or in drought on the U.S. Drought Monitor map released Thursday, Sept. 10, with data valid Sept. 8 at 8 a.m. EDT. The table lists 83.66% of the state in D0-D4 and 60.85% in D1-D4 drought.
The most severe categories eased slightly from the prior week in the statewide table. D2-D4 severe-or-worse drought fell from 20.70% on Sept. 1 to 19.00% on Sept. 8. D3-D4 extreme-or-worse drought fell from 5.22% to 4.59%, and D4 exceptional drought fell from 0.33% to 0.08%.
The Drought Monitor page lists an estimated 5,720,266 people in North Carolina drought areas.
The U.S. Drought Monitor uses D0 for abnormally dry conditions and D1 through D4 for moderate, severe, extreme and exceptional drought, according to Drought.gov. Drought.gov describes the monitor as a collaboration involving the National Drought Mitigation Center, USDA, NOAA and NASA, updated each Thursday.
Authoritative record: https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?NC
What it means for the shop
For landscaping businesses, the practical issue is not just the statewide percentage or estimated population affected. It is whether a customer’s city, county, utility, or water system has outdoor watering rules that affect irrigation, planting, sod installation, or other water-dependent work.
The North Carolina Drought Monitor page lists historic impact examples by category. Those examples include irrigation increases at D0, voluntary water conservation at D1, voluntary and mandatory water-use restrictions at D2, and landscaping and greenhouse business revenue losses at D3.
Because 19.00% of North Carolina is listed in D2-D4 and 4.59% is listed in D3-D4, landscaping companies should verify the local rule for each job site before promising watering schedules or installation timing. The Drought Monitor page says it focuses on broad-scale conditions and that local conditions may vary; the supplied evidence does not show that the monitor itself imposes job-site restrictions.
What remains unknown
The supplied evidence does not identify which North Carolina counties, cities, or metro areas are in each drought category. It also does not show whether any municipal utility, county, or water system has issued current voluntary or mandatory outdoor watering restrictions for commercial landscaping work.
Owners should treat the map as a warning flag, then check the local water provider or jurisdiction before scheduling work that depends on outdoor watering.
The supplied evidence does not include current North Carolina DEQ, agriculture, extension, nursery, contractor, or customer reports about cancellations, schedule changes, added costs, or local compliance details.
Sources
- Primary authority
droughtmonitor.unl.edu: North Carolina | U.S. Drought Monitor - Primary authority
drought.gov: The U.S. Drought Portal | Drought.gov - Primary authority
drought.gov: U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) - Primary authority
cpc.ncep.noaa.gov: Climate Prediction Center - United States Drought Information
Correction record
Previous: The article said the Drought Monitor page estimates 5,720,266 people in North Carolina drought areas.
Corrected: The current Drought Monitor page no longer displays a numeric estimated-population figure in the supplied text; the article should omit the 5,720,266 population claim unless separately sourced.
Reason: The changed source is still the same North Carolina U.S. Drought Monitor page for the Sept. 10, 2026 release, with data valid Sept. 8. The drought percentages, dates and category descriptions are unchanged. The only consequential change is that the current page no longer displays the estimated-population figure that the article listed as 5,720,266. The stored previousPage shows that figure appeared earlier, so this does not prove the article was wrong when published; it is a source-page change that makes the current-tense population claim stale/unsupported by the current cited page. The replacement removes that claim while preserving the same event and supported drought data.
Previous: The article said the supplied current evidence did not show a numeric estimated-population figure for North Carolina drought areas on the Drought Monitor page.
Corrected: The current North Carolina U.S. Drought Monitor page for the Sept. 10, 2026 release displays “Estimated Population in Drought Areas: 5,720,266.”
Reason: The changed source is still the same North Carolina U.S. Drought Monitor page for the Sept. 10, 2026 map, with data valid Sept. 8, so this is the same event. The current cited page now displays “Estimated Population in Drought Areas: 5,720,266.” The article’s current correction-era language says the supplied current evidence does not show a numeric estimated-population figure. That statement is now stale and directly contradicted by the current source. This does not prove the earlier correction was wrong when made: the stored previousPage available for that correction showed the population label without a number, while the current page now includes the number. The necessary update is to restore the population figure and remove the unsupported claim that the current page lacks it, while preserving the drought percentages, dates and local-restriction caveat.