Georgia Drought Update - June 8 2012

Before I get to the current drought situation in Georgia and the southeast, I would first like to mention the possibility of some good rain heading in this coming week. Without going into great detail of the approaching system, areas in the Southeast may see some high accumulation rates beginning Today [6/8/2012] through Thursday of next week. Some of the higher rain totals predicted will occur along the Gulf coast, seeing possibly as much as 10 inches of rain.

Here's the 5 day outlook from the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center [HPC] valid from 8 Pm Thursday thru 5 PM Tuesday evening June 15 2012. There is the potential some areas will have flooding issues through next week.

The NWS Peachtree City, GA mentions precipitation approaching 4 inches in areas of West Central Georgia. The NWS Huntsville, AL is in agreement mentioning 3 to 4 inches possible for northern Alabama areas.


Drought Impacts from Tropical Storm Beryl

In my last Drought update on May 25, 2012, I mentioned the possibility of a Tropical System of some type impacting the areas of Georgia and Florida. Other areas in the Southeast also saw welcomed rains from that system known as Tropical Storm Beryl.

from the Drought Monitor Archives-Contiguous U.S. MAy 29 2012 - Tropical Storm Beryl formed on May 25 about 300 miles east of Charleston, South Carolina, and moved southwestward. Beryl made landfall just after midnight on Memorial Day, May 28, near Jacksonville Beach, Florida, then passed near Valdosta, Georgia, before turning toward the north and northeast. Before accelerating away from the coastal Carolinas on May 30, Beryl provided much-needed rain to drought-affected areas from Florida to the Mid-Atlantic coastal plain.

Here's a Radar estimated rainfall amount from Moody Air Force Base, GA. Radar Precip Est From 1105 AM EDT Sun May 27 2012 to 0242 AM EDT Tue May 29 2012

While the rain from Beryl did help the drought situation in areas of Southeast Georgia, North Florida, and other areas in South and North Carolina, it did little for North Central, Central and Southwest Georgia. Here's a graphic showing drought conditions in Georgia. On the left: Drought conditions on May 22 before Beryl. On the right: Current drought conditions as of June 5 2012 after Beryl.

Here's a graphic showing the Drought conditions in the Southeast for the same time period. Notice North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina. On the left: Drought conditions on May 22 before Beryl. On the right: Current drought conditions as of June 5 2012 after Beryl.

Here's a graphic showing Rain amounts for the last 14 days ending June 7. Notice the area along the east coast down through Florida, where impacts from Tropical Storms Beryl were seen the most.

Here's what drought conditions look like for the remainder of the U.S. at this time.

And finally, here's how much precipitation would be required to end drought conditions across the U.S. in 3 months. [NOTE: The end of a drought is defined by a PHDI value of -0.5.]

Georgia Drought Update - May 25 2012

Once again little change in Drought conditions in Georgia since my last drought report May 12 2012. There were areas in Georgia that saw some drought improvement, but without continued adequate rainfall, these areas will likely see drought conditions worsen as we move into the summer months.

Here's the current drought severity index for Georgia. Areas that saw improvement in the past 2 weeks - North GA, West Central GA, and Southeast GA.

Here's the current drought severity index for the southeast U.S, Areas in Upstate South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Central to South Florida, saw some improvements due to Tropical Storm Alberto.

Speaking of Tropical systems ... Areas of south Georgia and north Florida my see some drought relief in the coming days. At this time [ 3:29 PM 5/25/2012 ] the National Hurricane Center is giving an area of low pressure in the Atlantic an 80 percent chance of developing into some type of tropical system. Maybe Tropical Storm Beryl ??

I wont bore you with the details, but here is a graphic from the NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA from earlier today, showing possible impacts.

Also of interest form NWS PTC, this drought information statement released on May 24 2012...

DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
115 PM EDT THU MAY 24 2012

...LONG TERM DROUGHT CONTINUES OVER CENTRAL GEORGIA...

THE SEVERE TO EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT CONTINUES OVER ALL OF CENTRAL GEORGIA AND PORTIONS OF NORTH GEORGIA. THE UPPER LEVEL FLOW HAS TRANSITIONED INTO A NEUTRAL WEATHER PATTERN FOR THE SUMMER SEASON. THE DROUGHT IMPACTS WILL GRADUALLY WORSEN AS VEGETATION DRAWS MORE
MOISTURE AND EVAPORATION RATES INCREASE. MOST SMALL LAKE...POND...STREAM AND RIVER LEVELS WILL REMAIN WELL BELOW NORMAL TO SOME RECORD LOWS FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR.

A FEW DAYS OF RAIN BROUGHT LITTLE RELIEF TO THE DROUGHT STRICKEN AREAS OF CENTRAL GEORGIA. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 0.25 TO 1.5 INCHES OCCURRED OVER MOST OF CENTRAL GEORGIA DURING THE PAST 14 DAYS. GREATER RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 2 TO 4 INCHES OCCURRED OVER MOST OF
NORTH GEORGIA DURING THE SAME PERIOD.

THE RAINFALL DEFICITS AND SOIL MOISTURE IMPROVED ONLY IN AREAS THAT RECEIVED 2 INCHES OR MORE DURING THE PAST TWO WEEKS. CONSEQUENTLY...THERE HAS BEEN LITTLE CHANGE IN THE AREAL COVERAGE OF THE SEVERE TO EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT AREA. THE AREA IS GENERALLY SOUTH OF A LINE FROM FRANKLIN THROUGH ATLANTA AND LAWRENCEVILLE TO TOCCOA. THE ONLY EXCEPTION WAS SOME TEMPORARY IMPROVEMENT JUST EAST OF FRANKLIN TO NEWNAN TO GREENVILLE WHERE MORE SIGNIFICANT RAIN OCCURRED.

Finally, here's the 'current' drought picture for the entire United States released on May 22 2012.

See also: The Drought Files. Covering drought in Georgia since 2007.