Going back to “Moderately Dry” for this past week. Rationale is due to the environment appearing to go back to near the same conditions existing prior to the late May rains. We’ve had 0.55” plus a couple Trace amounts the first week in June. The US Drought Monitor has dropped us down to “D2-Severe Drought” status (from “D3-Extreme Drought”), but curious about what the next update will show. The SC Forestry app is showing 17 wildfires across SC. Local non-irrigated lawns are already showing brown or bare spots again. Local roadside swamps are already dry or nearly so. Roadside ditches are dry again, and some vegetation is already starting to show stress again. The local mosquito population seemed to be reappearing again, but has now seemed to drop off. The birds and squirrels are visiting the feeders more, especially the bluebirds going after the mealworms. During a Poinsett State Park hike this past week, the creek below the main spillway again has a large number of rocks mostly visible. This was their same status before the late May rain (see photo). The prior week (during the rains), these rocks were completely under water. Hart Creek (that feeds Shanks Creek in the park) has dropped noticeably from during the rains (see photo). The park’s leaf litter is dry again, and the underlying soil is only damp. Small tributaries that were running after the rain have now mostly dried up again. A few mushrooms had sprouted in the park (see photos), but not as many as usually appear after a rainy period. Saw the first hummingbird for this year in the park. Yesterday (Saturday) the Wateree River at US 76/378 between Sumter and Columbia and the Congaree River at I-77 S of Columbia appear to have dropped 3-5 feet from the late May levels. While not as low as before the recent rains, they appear to be getting close again. Did see one fishing boat on the Wateree, but no boats on the Congaree. From Data Explorer: June rain: 0.55” (-0.56”/50% of NOAA normal); for the year: 11.46” (-6.88”/62% of NOAA normal). Last 30 days: 5.09 (NOAA normal: 8.31”). Last 90 days: 6.59” (NOAA normal: 15.01”).