Six months after historic rains and floods left the ground saturated, South Carolina is preparing for an early onset of mosquito season. People may be scratching through the spring with above-normal rainfall expected during the next three months.
Crews in some counties hard-hit by last October's rains have been out earlier than usual treating ditches to kill mosquito larvae.
The ground is still soggy in some areas after as much as 2 feet of rain fell last fall. Because it was late in the year, there was little warm weather to help evaporate the standing water, and trees were dormant so they didn't absorb the extra water through their roots.
The National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center forecasts a 40 percent chance of above-average rainfall through June.