Last measurable rain on 8 Aug. Out of town 9-17 Aug, nothing but dust in the gage on return on the 17th. US Drought Monitor still has us in a “D1-Moderate Drought”. Many areas opening cooling shelters to assist persons needing heat relief. Electrical grid is taking a pounding with all of the HVAC demands in this excessively hot weather. Local non irrigated lawns dry, brown and crunchy with bare spots. River birch still dropping yellow and brown leaves. Potted plants needing quite a bit of water with the recent high temps. Wateree River at US 76/378 between Sumter and Columbia looks approx. 4-5 feet low with sandbars showing in the middle. Congaree River at I-77 south of Columbia appears to be running almost full. A lot of dead/brown small bushes along SC roads. They’re scattered but very numerous, so doesn’t look like they’ve been sprayed, as some vegetation around them is still green. 13 wildfires across SC. Birds are still liking the birdbath and feeder. Even while it’s this dry the mosquitos are still abundant. From Data Explorer: Aug precip: 4.14”; +0.97" : 131% of NOAA Normal. Yearly precip: 18.72”; -11.66" : 62% of NOAA Normal. Last 30 days: 4.18”/10.39” NOAA normal. Last 90 days: 12.01”/18.70” NOAA normal.