DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
235 PM EDT WED JUN 25 2008
...A SEVERE TO EXTREME DROUGHT EXPANDS OVER NORTH AND WEST CENTRAL
GEORGIA...
...MODERATE DROUGHT CONDITIONS CONTINUE OVER THE REMAINDER OF
CENTRAL GEORGIA...
A FEW DAYS OF SHOWERS AND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS BROUGHT ISOLATED
RELIEF TO THE DROUGHT CONDITIONS ACROSS NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA.
RAINFALL AMOUNTS AROUND ONE INCH OCCURRED IN THIS AREA DURING THE
PAST 14 DAYS. ISOLATED HIGHER AMOUNTS OF 2 TO 3 INCHES OCCURRED
OVER NORTH GEORGIA NEAR JASPER AND FROM NEAR WINDER THROUGH
JEFFERSON AND HOMER TO DANIELSVILLE. UNFORTUNATELY...THERE WERE
SCATTERED LOCATIONS MAINLY ACROSS CENTRAL GEORGIA THAT RECEIVED
ONE HALF INCH OR LESS.
THE RAINFALL DEFICITS CONTINUED TO WORSEN AND THE SOIL MOISTURE
DECLINED ACROSS MOST AREAS OF NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA DURING THE
PAST TWO WEEKS. CONSEQUENTLY...A SEVERE TO EXTREME DROUGHT EXPANDED
OVER NORTH AND WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA...WEST AND NORTH OF A LINE FROM
CORDELE AND FORT VALLEY TO MONTICELLO AND CRAWFORDVILLE. MODERATE
DROUGHT CONDITIONS PREVAILED OVER THE REMAINDER OF CENTRAL GEORGIA.
WHILE THERE HAS BEEN SOME ISOLATED BENEFICIAL RAINFALL FOR SHALLOW
ROOTED PLANTS AND GRASSES...SIGNIFICANT HYDROLOGICAL IMPACTS TO
WATER SUPPLY...STREAM FLOWS AND WATER TABLES CONTINUES OVER MOST
OF NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA. THIS INCLUDES THE LAKE LANIER BASIN
WHICH HAS BEEN SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACTED BY THE LONG TERM EXTREME
DROUGHT.
SEE HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/FFC/HTML/RAINDEF.SHTML FOR THE LATEST
U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR IMAGE AND OTHER DROUGHT RELATED INFORMATION.
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CLIMATE IMPACTS
GENERALLY 5 TO 75 PERCENT OF NORMAL RAINFALL OCCURRED OVER NORTH
AND CENTRAL GEORGIA DURING THE PAST 14 DAYS. GREATER RAINFALL
AMOUNTS OVER PARTS NORTH GEORGIA WERE FROM 100 TO 200 PERCENT OF
NORMAL.
LOCATION TOTAL RAINFALL NORMAL DEPARTURE PERCENT
LAST 365 DAYS VALUE FROM NORMAL OF NORMAL
ATLANTA 37.80 50.25 -12.45 75%
ATHENS 31.84 47.86 -16.02 67%
COLUMBUS 45.20 48.62 -3.42 93%
MACON 43.59 45.04 -1.45 97%
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RESERVOIRS/STREAM LEVELS
CURRENT LAKE LEVELS AT USACE PROJECTS WERE MAINLY FROM NEAR ONE FOOT
BELOW SUMMER POOL LEVELS AT ALLATOONA...CARTERS AND WEST POINT TO
AROUND 14 FEET BELOW AT LANIER. THE POOL LEVELS ARE PROJECTED TO
SLOWLY FALL DURING THE NEXT FOUR WEEKS.
LAKE SUMMER POOL CURRENT LEVEL DEPARTURE
IN FEET
ALLATOONA 840 838.84 -1.16
CARTERS 1074 1073.00 -1.00
HARTWELL 660 650.17 -9.83
LANIER 1071 1056.54 -14.46
THURMOND 330 319.44 -10.56
WEST POINT 635 634.47 -0.53
AVERAGE STREAM LEVELS FOR THE PAST 7 DAYS WERE GENERALLY 1 TO 40
PERCENT OF NORMAL FLOW IN MOST OF NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA DUE TO
AREAS OF RECENT RAINFALL.
PLEASE NOTE THAT CREEKS AND SMALLER RIVERS CAN CHANGE QUICKLY DUE TO
RUNOFF FROM HEAVY RAIN IF IT OCCURS.
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FIRE DANGER LEVELS
THE LATEST FIRE DANGER ASSESSMENT INDICATES A HIGH RISK ACROSS NORTH
GEORGIA AND AN EXTREME RISK ACROSS CENTRAL GEORGIA.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS ASSESSMENT CAN CHANGE RAPIDLY DUE TO CHANGES
IN MOISTURE LEVELS AND RAINFALL RECEIVED.
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TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION OUTLOOK
FOR JULY...THE OUTLOOK FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA...EQUAL
CHANCES OF ABOVE OR BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION ARE
EXPECTED. THE DROUGHT CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST OVER NORTH AND
CENTRAL GEORGIA UNLESS SIGNIFICANT RAIN IS RECEIVED.
90 DAY OUTLOOK...FOR JULY THROUGH SEPTEMBER...EQUAL CHANCES OF ABOVE
OR BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION ARE EXPECTED.
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THIS DATA WAS FURNISHED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN
COOPERATION WITH THE U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY...THE GEORGIA STATE
CLIMATOLOGIST AT THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA...THE GEORGIA
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION DIVISION...AND THE U.S. ARMY CORPS OF
ENGINEERS. CURRENT FIRE DANGER ASSESSMENTS WERE PROVIDED BY THE
GEORGIA FORESTRY COMMISSION.
THE NEXT DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT IS SCHEDULED FOR THURSDAY
...JULY 11 2008.
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