By: Lydia Crawley
The Parsons Advocate
Tucker County had its fifth wettest May in 131 years, according to OEM Director Kevin White. The statistic is the result of higher than normal rainfall in the County during the month. The announcement came as part of White’s update to the Tucker County Commission Wednesday, June 11th.
“Which is a good thing because we have been in a drought since last year,” White said.
The rainfall has also resulted in the County currently having a 0% drought. The statistic means that the month of May was 4.3 inches above normal. As a result of the rainfall, the water table has risen slightly, according to White.
“But going into May we were below normal,” White said. “So it kind of equaled out. We’re probably really where we need to be this time of year.”
Rainfall has also assisted with fire danger in the County, as well. Currently, the eastern part of the County is at a Moderate level around the Parsons area. However, beginning at the Hambleton intersection and going up the mountain, the fire danger is still High, White said.
“Fire danger is something that is hard to understand sometimes,” White said. “It doesn’t go just by how much rainfall you’ve received. It goes by your relative humidity and weather conditions, things like that.”
The yearly burn ban is no longer in effect, White said. Residents are free to burn natural materials anytime of day. As always, cooking fires can be utilized any time of year so long as there is not a total burn ban, White said.
“You can never burn a man made material in the State of West Virginia,” White said.
White said there has been some confusion over what materials are able to be burned within the State. Residents are free to burn natural materials such as brush, downed limbs and leaves. What cannot be burned is man made materials such as would be found in burn barrels or furniture.
“There’s a lot of confusion,” White said. “People think they are free to burn their garbage barrel. That’s not true. You can never burn a man made material.”
