The Denton plate. Relief from Copernicus GLO-30; rivers and lakes from USGS NHD; watersheds from the USGS Watershed Boundary Dataset; roads and city limits from Census TIGER 2024.
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3.63 inches of rain fell in two days, the most for this week of the year since records began in 1926. The next wettest, 3.15 inches, fell in 2018.
Denton’s center stands about 740 ft above sea level. Within three miles the land runs from 620 ft to 940 ft, a difference of 320 ft: rolling country. The highest named summit within 15 miles is Three Hat Mountain, about 1,220 ft, 8 miles north.
Under the town center the state geologic map shows Cid Formation; Metamudstone and Meta-Argillite (slate, argillite), from the Neoproterozoic to Cambrian, 487 to 1,000 million years old.
The section below crosses 9 rock units mapped at the surface.
Heights every 0.1 mile from the Copernicus GLO-90 surface model; vertical exaggeration about 36×. The colored band under the surface is the rock the state geologic map shows at the surface, not a picture of what lies beneath.
Slate, argillite. Age: Neoproterozoic to Cambrian, 487 to 1,000 million years old. About 8 mi of the line.
Slate, argillite. Age: Neoproterozoic to Cambrian, 487 to 1,000 million years old. About 4 mi of the line.
Slate, argillite. Age: Neoproterozoic to Cambrian, 487 to 1,000 million years old. About 4 mi of the line.
Metavolcanic. Age: Neoproterozoic to Cambrian, 487 to 1,000 million years old. About 2 mi of the line.
Metadacite, metarhyolite, metavolcanic. Age: Neoproterozoic to Cambrian, 487 to 1,000 million years old. About 2 mi of the line.
Metadacite, metarhyolite, metavolcanic. Age: Neoproterozoic to Cambrian, 487 to 1,000 million years old. About 2 mi of the line.
From the USGS State Geologic Map Compilation (Horton and others, 2017), the states’ geologic maps joined at a common scale. 3 smaller units along the line are not listed.
Heights from Copernicus GLO-90 (a surface model: it includes buildings and tree canopy); summits from USGS GNIS; rivers from USGS NHDPlus HR; rock from the USGS State Geologic Map Compilation.
A raindrop that lands in Denton reaches the Atlantic Ocean by way of Lick Creek, the Yadkin, the Pee Dee, the Great Pee Dee, Schooner Creek and the Waccamaw: about 260 river miles.
Lake on the way: Lake Tillery.
150 miles of the trip are on the Great Pee Dee.
Traced down the USGS NHDPlus V2.1 river network from the Census center point of Denton; river miles along the main stem, rounded.
Denton has a humid subtropical climate. Summer afternoons average 88° in July; winter nights fall to about 29° in January. About 47 inches of rain fall in a normal year.
On November 14 Denton normally reaches 61° and falls to 38°. The record high is 79°, in 1951; the record low 20°, in 1986. The most rain on this date, 0.95 in, fell in 2024.
Normals 1991–2020 and records since 1926 at Asheboro 2 W, 16 miles east-northeast, 130 ft higher. NOAA, through RCC-ACIS.
