State · United States · USGS · BOR · USACE · CDEC
North Carolina
62.4% average fill
Measured
3
Volume stored
372 hm³
Measured capacity
597 hm³
Below month average
2 of 3
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Drought Monitor · 13 October 2026
Weekly map · area in each categoryDrought status
58.4%
of the area in drought (D1 or worse)
Worst category: D3 extreme drought
down 1.5 points on the week
Severe or worse (D2+)
24.0%
Extreme or worse (D3+)
4.3%
DSCI
1750–500
People in drought
5.7 million
Reservoirs (reservoirs.earth)
62.4% full3 tracked
Reservoirs on drought ground
2 of 32 in D2 or worse
As of the 13 October 2026 U.S. Drought Monitor map, 58.4% of North Carolina was in drought (D1 or worse), with 4.3% in extreme or exceptional drought (D3–D4). The 3 reservoirs we track in North Carolina were 62.4% full on their latest readings. 2 of 3 tracked reservoir sites sit inside the drought area, 2 of them in severe drought (D2) or worse.
The Drought Monitor maps where conditions are dry this week — rainfall, soil moisture, streamflow — not how much water is stored. Reservoir storage lags it by months, so a region can be in drought with full reservoirs, or out of drought with empty ones. Source: droughtmonitor.unl.edu. The U.S. Drought Monitor is jointly produced by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the United States Department of Agriculture, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Map courtesy of NDMC.
Reservoirs
Sorted by capacityJordan Dam
Updated 2026-10-15· 92% of month avg· D2
Falls Dam
Updated 2026-10-15· 79% of month avg· D2
W. Kerr Scott Dam
Updated 2026-10-15· 113% of month avg
Storage from official US gauges (USGS, USACE, Bureau of Reclamation, CDEC) and, in Texas, the Texas Water Development Board. Fill % uses design capacity from the National Inventory of Dams where available; Water Data for Texas lakes use that board's conservation capacity; a few sites without a match fall back to the 5-year maximum. "% of month avg" compares the current fill with the reservoir’s own average for this calendar month over its readings on record. D0–D4 is the U.S. Drought Monitor category of the ground at the reservoir’s coordinates on the latest weekly map — local conditions, not storage.
About reservoirs in North Carolina
As of October 15, 2026, the reservoirs we track across North Carolina that report live levels hold roughly 372 hm³ of water — about 62.4% of their combined capacity. Taken together, North Carolina's reservoirs are within their normal operating range.
None of the tracked reservoirs are currently at critically low levels. W. Kerr Scott Dam is the fullest at 74.2%, while Jordan Dam is the lowest at 59.5%.
Over the most recent week on record, 1 reservoir rose across North Carolina.
Storage figures for North Carolina come from USGS · USACE · BOR · CDEC; the most recent reading is from October 15, 2026. Each reservoir below links to its own page with full history and seasonal context.
North Carolina at a glance
- Reservoirs tracked
- 3
- Average fill
- 62.4%
- Water stored
- 372 hm³
- Combined capacity
- 597 hm³
- Fullest
- W. Kerr Scott Dam (74.2%)
- Lowest
- Jordan Dam (59.5%)
- Last updated
- October 15, 2026