Richmond, Va. – Due to lack of more frequent and prolonged precipitation across most of the Commonwealth over the past two weeks, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) in coordination with the Drought Monitoring Task Force (DMTF) continued the existing drought advisory statuses for Virginia. All of Virginia is in a drought warning, with the exception of Isle of Wight County, and the cities of Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, and Virginia Beach in southeast Virginia, which remain in a drought watch.  

A drought warning advisory is intended to increase awareness that the onset of a significant drought event is imminent. A drought watch advisory is intended to help Virginians prepare for a potential drought. 

The DMTF primarily considers four drought indicators in establishing drought advisories: precipitation, groundwater levels, streamflow, and reservoir levels. Streamflows and soil moisture have continued to decline, with deeper soil moisture and groundwater also remaining much below normal. Groundwater levels in 13 of the state’s 24 monitoring wells remain below the 10th percentile for this time of the year.

Long-term outlooks for groundwater levels remain a concern and will take a prolonged period of rainfall to recover.  

Average statewide precipitation is approximately 7.5 inches below normal 
for the water year, which began on Oct. 1, 2025. Without prolonged periods of rainfall, the drought will worsen as temperatures rise and rates of evapotranspiration increase. Worsening conditions could cause the drought advisory to be upgraded from warning to emergency status in certain localities—thereby triggering potential water restrictions.

DEQ and the DMTF are assessing the situation and will continue to provide updates every two weeks for the duration of the drought.

Additional information on the current drought status is available on the DEQ Drought webpage and Drought Dashboard, which includes interactive data on stream gages, groundwater wells, soil moisture, and precipitation.