Published: Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2008 / Updated: Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2008 06:42 AM

A real soaker, but no drought- buster

Area parched no more: Lawns, farms swell with up to 3 inches of rain

Plan to mow the lawn this weekend. But don't expect drought restrictions to be lifted anytime soon.

Because even though as much as 3 inches of rain fell Tuesday in York, Chester and Lancaster counties -- and despite more rain that's expected to arrive later this week -- all it means is more time cutting grass.

"It's not really going to have a major impact on the drought yet," said Terry Benthall, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. "The rainfall here will help as far as the surface, basically your grass and things like that."

Important drought indicators such as groundwater and reservoir levels might rise slightly, Benthall said, but that's it.

"It may be a start," he said. "It's not a silver bullet. It's not going to wipe it out yet."

Several drenching storms and regular rainfall are needed to alleviate the drought situation, Benthall said. He expects consistent rain in the area until early today, but only occasional storms later in the week.

Although the storms left only a slight dent in drought conditions, a record was set for rainfall in the Charlotte area.

That easily shattered the record for Aug. 26, of 1.86 inches, set in 1891. It also is more than any entire month since March, and the biggest one-day total in Charlotte since 4.14 inches fell on July 17, 2004.

Rock Hill received around 3 inches of rain Tuesday.

The powerful storms are the result of the remnants of Tropical Storm Fay, which is spinning bands of heavy showers and thunderstorms across the region and has caused the record-setting rainfall.

The cluster of storms is responsible for confirmed tornadoes in northeast Georgia and western South Carolina. One tornado was spotted on the ground a few miles from Clemson University. No injuries were reported.

Despite local tornado watches and warnings, no severe damage was reported to area officials.

"Just a good, rainy afternoon," said Cotton Howell, director of York County emergency management. "Something we've been needing for a long time."

York County officials did receive some reports of flooding, but nothing more than some overwhelmed storm drains, Howell said. No calls about injuries came in, either.

S.C. Highway Patrol troopers didn't notice any more wrecks because of the weather.

"Everyone's so glad to see the rain," Howell said. "They're just taking all the precautions."

In Chester County, someone called 911 about spotting a funnel cloud along S.C. 901, said Eddie Murphy, the county's emergency management director.

Murphy called local schools about the sighting and students were guided into the hallways until the tornado warning expired. A tornado never materialized there, according to the National Weather Service.

Lancaster County had a few roads with power outages, but no flooding or damage, according to emergency officials.

Tuesday's weather did bring down a tree on York County's Brickyard Road, which knocked out power to more than 1,500 people in Fort Mill and Tega Cay.

Fort Mill's Town Hall lost power at about 1:30 p.m. and power was not restored as of 5 p.m. A traffic signal at the busy intersection of Main and North White streets was knocked out around 2 p.m.

Most affected residents and businesses are located in the southeast portion of the area.