Georgia Drought Update October 16 2011 - Local Relief

With much of Georgia still experiencing 'Extreme Drought' conditions. Locally [ Harris County ] and southwest Georgia have found some relief, while north / northwest Georgia is once again included in this update.

As you can see in the graphic below, from September 27 on the left [ which was in my previous drought update ] to the current of October 11 2011 on the right, North & Northwest Georgia are once again becoming 'Abnormally dry'. Down to our southwest the drought has eased off a bit reflected by drought conditions now classified as 'Severe'.

Here in the local area, Harris County Georgia to be exact, we have also seen drought relief. Most of the county is now in a 'severe drought' as compared to two weeks ago 'extreme drought'. This was due to locally heavy rains on September 21 [ 2.28" ] & 22 [ 4.62" ] and another 0.51" on the 20^th, for a total of 7.41 inches in a three day period. My total for the month of September was a whopping 8.33 inches doubling almost tripling the normal rainfall amount for the area of 3.07 inches according to the National Weather Service. At the airport in Columbus which is the official rain gauge for the area, they recorded 3.56 inches for the month of September.

Over the rest of the southeast not much has changed during this time period.

Additional Precipitation Needed to Bring Palmer Drought Index to -0.5