COLUMBIA — South Carolina has received several rounds of much needed rain in the past few weeks and a special committee meets at 10 a.m. today to decide if it is enough to improve the state's drought status.

The Drought Response Committee last met in February, placing nine counties in the northwest corner of South Carolina in extreme drought, the most serious category. Conditions improved toward the coast, with the eastern half of the state under the most moderate drought conditions.

In the two months since, the heaviest rains in South Carolina have fallen over the areas that need it the most.