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Pennies on the dollar: Why Friday night’s rain won’t be enough to eliminate drought, extinguish fires

We’ll take any chance of rain we can get, but we need a substantial amount before drought and fire concerns go away

ROANOKE, Va.Our Weather Authority Alert Day continues through Saturday, due to the fire risk and the spread of smoke from the Matts Creek fire.

[READ MORE: Health alerts issued for parts of the area.

You might find yourself saying, “But we’re getting rain Friday.”

Correct. We’re getting a minimal amount of rain Friday night. It’s not cause for celebration just yet, as pessimistic as that might sound.

To counter that pessimism, we’re cautiously optimistic about the rain expected next Tuesday.

How much ground we make with our next two rainmakers

We need 4-8″ of rain in the next four weeks to completely get rid of the drought.

Let’s put that in a better perspective.

A lot of us are trying to save money where we can. Let’s imagine that you have four weeks to save $40 to $80 dollars.

The rain we get Friday night would equate to anywhere from a few cents to $2.50. You’ll take it, but you know you have a lot of ground to make up.

How much ground we make with our next two rainmakers

If current forecast data is correct, the rain we get Tuesday would equate to roughly $10 or more. Now, we’re talking!

As you can see, we have a long way to go before this drought is over.

Please respect the burn bans in place, as they won’t go away after Friday night.


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