Little change in drought conditions, coverage area

Drought conditions in Georgia – their intensity and coverage – changed very little over the past week.

The U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) says drought conditions cover 64 percent of the state with only a few counties in southeast Georgia considered “drought-free.”

Hall County is among those where “moderate” conditions exist. That’s true of most counties along and northwest of an Augusta-Macon-Columbus line. Included are Hall County and the rest of northeast Georgia, except for Banks, Jackson and Barrow counties where the conditions in each include “moderate” and “abnormally” dry – the latter being less severe.

Meanwhile, the level of Lake Lanier continues to drop a little each week and as of Friday morning registered 1067.5, down two tenths of a foot from a week ago.