Little change in drought in Georgia

It may be hard to image Georgia being in a drought as rains pushing through the state ahead of Hurricane Helene continue. But as of Thursday morning, it still had its grip on the Georgia based on data collected before Helene’s rains hit us.

But there was little change in the area covered by the drought over the past week and little change in intensity in those areas that are included.

The U.S. Drought Monitor’s (USDM) weekly report shows drought conditions were lingering in 58 percent of the state, virtually all of that along and north of a line from Columbus to Savannah.

The driest counties are in northwest and northeast Georgia and metro Atlanta, including Hall and surrounding counties. All but a few in extreme northwest Georgia on the Tennessee border near Chattanooga are in the “severe” category. Conditions are considered “extreme” in those areas.

As for the level of Lake Lanier, it is up a bit from last Thursday – 1067.8. That’s still about two feet below full pool but that could change rapidly over the next two or three days if we get the amounts of rain some forecasters are expecting.

The threat of a rapidly rising lake level prompted the Lake Lanier Association to issue a special alert Wednesday. LLA: Potential for sudden rise in level of Lanier (wgtjradio.com)