After months of dry conditions, Buchanan County is officially out of drought status following several weeks of much-needed rainfall across Southwest Virginia.
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality announced Aug. 31 that the drought watch for the Big Sandy Drought Evaluation Region, which includes Buchanan County, has been lifted.
The decision returns the region to normal drought status and marks the first time since April 16 that any drought evaluation region in Virginia has been free of a drought watch or warning.
The improvement did not come from a single rainstorm. Instead, state officials said sustained rainfall over several weeks gradually improved conditions enough for the Virginia Drought Monitoring Task Force to recommend lifting the watch during its Aug. 25 meeting.
Some parts of the Big Sandy region received between 3 and 5 inches of rain during the week leading up to the meeting, providing another boost to water conditions.
Several measurements used by the state to determine drought conditions now show the Big Sandy region back in the normal range.
As of Aug. 24, the region had received 89.53% of its normal precipitation since the beginning of the water year on Oct. 1, 2025. The state’s precipitation indicator for the region was classified as normal.
Streamflow conditions have also rebounded.
For the Aug. 18-24 monitoring period, the Big Sandy streamflow indicator stood at the 95.97 percentile and was classified as normal. The state uses the Clinch River at Cleveland as its streamflow monitoring point for the Big Sandy region.
Groundwater conditions are especially important locally because one of the wells used to monitor the Big Sandy region is located in Buchanan County.
The Buchanan County Observation Well and Cane Patch Observation Well are the two groundwater monitoring sites used for the region. Both were classified as normal during the Aug. 18-24 monitoring period. The Buchanan County indicator was at the 45.69 percentile, while the Cane Patch indicator was at the 100th percentile.
Big Cherry Reservoir, which is also used as a drought indicator for the Big Sandy region, was listed at normal status.
The combination of improved rainfall, streamflow, groundwater and reservoir conditions was enough for state officials to return the region to normal status.
While the drought watch has ended, weather conditions will continue to be monitored as the area moves into fall.
The outlook included in the state’s Aug. 25 drought report gives Southwest Virginia an increased chance of above-normal precipitation during September. Near- or above-normal temperatures are favored for the month.
Looking farther ahead, forecasters see equal chances of above- or below-average precipitation through Nov. 30, with near- or above-normal temperatures favored.
For Buchanan County, however, the latest numbers represent a welcome turnaround after an extended period of dry weather, with the area’s major drought indicators now back in the normal range.
