NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — On Thursday morning, the drought monitor for Tennessee is showing areas of extreme drought and exceptional drought.
These numbers are updated every week, and over the past few months the numbers have significantly increased.
As of August 8, 94.76% of Tennessee was at no risk of drought.
However, on Oct. 31, that number decreased to a small 3.38%, and 40.91% of Tennessee moved to a D3 or D4 level drought, the two highest levels.
Due to the significant lack of rain and unusually high temperatures, the drought levels are not decreasing. There are currently burn bans in Williamson, Rutherford, Franklin and Grundy counties.
According to the state website, the bans apply to all open-air burning including leaf and woody debris and construction burning, campfires, outdoor grills and other fire activity.
