Popular Lake Norman swimming beach will remain closed Memorial Day Weekend. Why?
The popular Ramsey Creek beach on Lake Norman in Cornelius will remain closed Memorial Day Weekend due to the drought, and its opening for the season remains uncertain, Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation officials said Tuesday.
“Despite recent rainfall, the water level at the swimming area and beach is too low for guests to safely use,” officials said in a news release. “Park and Recreation will evaluate conditions at Ramsey Creek Beach regularly to determine when it is safe to open to guests.”
Other areas of the waterfront Ramsey Creek Park remain open, officials said.
The 46-acre park on Nantz Road also has nature trails, a playground, picnic shelters, and enclosed dog park and a volleyball court.
Mecklenburg and surrounding counties are experiencing what the U.S. Drought Monitor map classifies as extreme drought, the next worst of five classifications. Parts of Union, Cabarrus and east Mecklenburg are in the worst category, exceptional drought.
Charlotte is nearly 7 inches below the amount of rain that historically falls by early May, National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Rehnberg told The Charlotte Observer on Friday: 15.27 inches compared with 8.34 inches this year.
Charlotte forecast
Charlotte should be sunny to mostly sunny through at least Monday, except for late Wednesday and early Thursday, according to the NWS forecast.
The chance of showers and thunderstorms stands at 40% before 11 p.m Wednesday and continuing through 2 a.m. Thursday, the forecast showed.