Here the text says that Elijah met king Ahab in the third year of the drought which would remove it. In James 5:17 says that the drought was three and a half years. Is there a contradiction?
The answer is No: the Hebrew expression “in the third year” (or any year/day) can mean after three years or after 2 years, and is only an expression and approximation – Esther 4:16 vs 5:1. So, since James, being a Jew, would have understood the language much better, is probably approximating just like 1 Kings 18:1 in saying three and a half years which very possibly had the same idiomatic meaning as “in the third year” in 1 Kings 18:1 seeing the examples of Esther 4:16 vs 5:1.
