Drought Information Statement for North and Central Georgia Valid May 14, 2026 Issued By: National Weather Service Atlanta / Peachtree City, GA Contact Information: sr-ffc.webmaster@noaa.gov This product will be updated May 28, 2026 or sooner if drought conditions change significantly. Please see all currently available products at https://drought.gov/drought-information-statements. Please visit https://www.weather.gov/ffc/DroughtInformationStatement for previous statements. Please visit https://www.drought.gov/drought-status-updates for regional drought status updates. Slight Drought Improvement Following Last Week’s Soaking Rain Small Improvements: Level 1 Drought Response remains in place, but recent rainfall provided pockets of improvements in the Drought Monitor. Persistent Impacts: Even with small improvements, dry, significant drought persists across the state, with the Drought Monitor largely status quo. 1 U.S. Drought Monitor Link to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor for North and Central Georgia Drought intensity and Extent: D4 (Exceptional Drought): Dodge, Emanuel, Montgomery, Telfair, Toombs, Wheeler, Wilcox D3 (Extreme Drought): Banks, Barrow, Bartow, Bibb, Butts, Carroll, Catoosa, Chattahoochee, Chattooga, Cherokee, Clarke, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, Crawford, Crisp, Dade, Dawson, DeKalb, Dooly, Douglas, Fannin, Fayette, Floyd, Forsyth, Fulton, Gilmer, Gordon, Greene, Gwinnett, Hall, Hancock, Haralson, Harris, Henry, Jackson, Jasper, Johnson, Jones, Lamar, Laurens, Lumpkin, Macon, Madison, Marion, Meriwether, Monroe, Morgan, Murray, Muscogee, Newton, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Paulding, Pickens, Pike, Polk, Pulaski, Putnam, Rockdale, Schley, Spalding, Stewart, Sumter, Talbot, Taliaferro, Taylor, Towns, Treutlen, Troup, Union, Upson, Walker, Walton, Warren, Webster, White, Whitfield, Wilkes D2 (Severe Drought): Baldwin, Bleckley, Glascock, Heard, Houston, Jefferson, Peach, Twiggs, Washington, Wilkinson D1 (Moderate Drought): None. D0 (Abnormally Dry): None. D4 (Exceptional Drought): D3 (Extreme Drought): D2 (Severe Drought): D1 (Moderate Drought): D0 (Abnormally Dry): {{DROUGHT_MONITOR}} Recent Change in Drought Intensity Link to the latest 2-week and 4-week change map for Georgia. Four Week Drought Monitor Class Change (image not shown) Drought Worsened: Baldwin, Bartow, Butts, Carroll, Catoosa, Chattooga, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, Dade, Dawson, Dodge, Douglas, Emanuel, Fayette, Floyd, Forsyth, Fulton, Gilmer, Glascock, Gordon, Greene, Hancock, Haralson, Harris, Heard, Henry, Jasper, Jefferson, Jones, Lamar, Meriwether, Monroe, Morgan, Murray, Paulding, Pickens, Pike, Polk, Pulaski, Putnam, Spalding, Taliaferro, Telfair, Troup, Upson, Walker, Warren, Washington, Whitfield, Wilcox, Wilkes, Wilkinson No Change: Banks, Barrow, Bleckley, Chattahoochee, Clarke, Crisp, DeKalb, Dooly, Fannin, Gwinnett, Hall, Houston, Jackson, Johnson, Laurens, Lumpkin, Madison, Marion, Montgomery, Newton, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Rockdale, Schley, Stewart, Sumter, Talbot, Toombs, Towns, Treutlen, Twiggs, Union, Walton, Webster, Wheeler, White Drought Improved: Bibb, Coweta, Crawford, Harris, Macon, Muscogee, Peach, Taylor The 4-week change map is available here. The 1-week change map is shown right. {{DROUGHT_CHANGE_MAP}} Precipitation - Past 30 Days The Additional Rainfall Information product (MISATL) is available online at weather.gov/ffc. Through Thursday, May 14, 2026, at 8AM: A more active pattern brought a few rainfall events over the last 14-days, providing some areas with enough accumulations to produce small drought improvements. In some cases, these weather events underperformed, leaving large rainfall deficits still in place. Rainfall over the last 30-days ranged from 2.25 to 7 inches (65 to 200% of normal) across north and central Georgia, but even with the boost, 60-day rainfall continues to largely be under 60% at most locations. Additionally, the majority of the state still has deficits of 8-15 inches since October 1, around when this drought period began. National Water Prediction Service link to the 30-day precipitation map for North and Central Georgia {{PRECIPITATION}} Temperatures - Past 30-, 7-Days Through May 10, 2026. *Note, the table values are for the 30-day period ending on the date at the top of the table. This period matches the latency for the 30-day and 7-day max temperature anomaly images (right). For the 30-day period ending May 10, average high temperatures were above normal (+1 to +3 degrees) over most of north and central Georgia (image center, table). The more active weather pattern and related cloud cover and precipitation produced below normal maximum temperatures (image right) in the 7 day period ending May 10. {{TEMPERATURE}} Summary of Impacts Links: See/submit Condition Monitoring Observer Reports (CMOR) and view the Drought Impacts Reporter Hydrologic Impacts Streamflow continues to suffer under dry and warm conditions, even with recent rainfall during a more active weather pattern. As warming temperatures encourage the green up, higher demand on water sources and increased evapotranspiration will further stress water supplies and soil moisture. See slide 7 for additional details. Agricultural Impacts Dire reports continue to indicate near-total crop failure, livestock mortality, and the depletion of natural water sources. Farmers continue to report dire pasture/forage conditions, even with rotating pastures. The Crop Progress & Condition charts shows extremely low percentages for winter wheat, pasture and range, and corn, as well as high percentages of very poor to fair conditions. See slide 8 for additional details on soil moistures. Fire Hazard Impacts Rainfall and improved fuel moistures have permitted NWS and fire partners to return to normal thresholds for NWS fire-related products. Burn bans remain in place in many municipalities. See slide 9 for more details. Mitigation Actions Please refer to your municipality and/or water provider for mitigation information. Many areas have burn bans in place and have instituted Drought Response Level 1, including restricted outdoor watering schedules. Refer to your municipality and/or water provider for mitigation information. CMOR report photo from Morgan County, 4/29/2026. Main Takeaways Recent rainfall has produced rises on area creeks and rivers, though the 28-day average streamflow has continued to range from Normal to Extremely Low in all major river basins. Atlanta-area creeks have rebounded more than the more rural locations. Despite the recent rainfall, Lake and Reservoir levels continue to show the impacts of a long, persistent dry period, with most reservoirs below seasonal normals. The available elevation curves for USACE projects in the NWS Peachtree City area show: *Action zones used in some charts are defined here. USACE Lakes Current Action Zone Forecast Action Zone Carters Zone 1 Zone 2 Lanier Zone 3 Zone 3 Allatoona Zone 3 Zone 3 West Point Top of Conservation Zone 1 Hydrologic Conditions and Impacts See the USGS 120-day streamflow map here. Disclaimer: Following the decommissioning of USGS WaterWatch, historical maps are no longer available. The above image was generated using USGS streamflow data, and the streamflow anomaly data presented here are provisional. {{HYDROLOGIC}} Agricultural Impacts The relative soil moisture (image right) graphic shows the level of saturation in the top 6 feet of the soil relative to the total capacity of the soil. Even with the recent rainfall, the deep soil profile across the majority of Georgia is still only at 5 to 40% of its total capacity. Far north Georgia has seen drying over the last two weeks (far right image) but still shows soils at 45 to 65% of its total capacity. Image Captions: Left: 0-200cm Relative Soil Moisture from NASA SPoRT valid May 14, 2026. Right: 0-200 cm Relative Soil Moisture 2-week Change from NASA SPoRT valid May 14, 2026. {{AGRICULTURE}} Fire Hazard Impacts Link to Wildfire Potential Outlooks from the National Interagency Coordination Center. Keetch Byram Drought Index values (KDBI) over north and central Georgia are generally 100-300 in most locations, given the recent rainfall. KBDI provides an estimate of dryness of soils and surface fuels) At this time, above normal wildland fire potential is expected for portions of Georgia for May, as indicated in the Significant Wildland Fire Potential Outlook (far right). This above normal potential is expected to continue into Summer. The Wildfire Potential Outlook (table) indicates Moderate (level 3 of 4) for portions of south and central Georgia Sunday through Wednesday. Wildfire Potential Outlook FRI SAT SUN MON TUE WED LOW LOW MOD MOD MOD MOD Significant Wildland Fire Potential Monthly Outlook for May 2026. Keetch Byram Drought Index for May 13, 2026. {{FIRE_WEATHER}} 100.0% of GA April 28, 2026 Largest D2-D4 coverage in Georgia*: 100.0% of GA May 5, 2026 Last time there was at least 99.4% of GA in D2-D4: 99.4% of GA TODAY Current D2-D4 coverage in Georgia: Drought: Historical Context Link to Drought Monitor Time Series The time series is courtesy of the US Drought Monitor. This graph shows the depiction of the D0, D1, D2, D3, and D4 drought across the state of Georgia since January 2000. For the Drought Event beginning in September 2025, for the entire state of Georgia: Sep 23, 2025 First D2 (Severe) Drought in Georgia: D4 (Exceptional) April 28, 2026 (33.3%) Maximum drought category so far: *for this drought period The 7-day outlook (through May 21, pictured right): Rainfall amounts of 0.5 or less are forecast for the next 7-days. Unfortunately, the current forecast keeps the lowest amounts over the D4 Exceptional Drought area. The 8-14 day outlook (May 20-26, image far) shows above normal precipitation chances. Precipitation Outlook {{QPF_7_DAY}} Rapid Onset Drought Outlook Links to the latest Climate Prediction Center 8 to 14 day Temperature Outlook and Precipitation Outlook. Summarize conditions and impacts here {{OUTLOOK_8_14_DAY}} Long-Range Outlooks The latest monthly and seasonal outlooks can be found on the CPC homepage For May through July: Above normal chances of precipitation are expected across portions of central Georgia (image right). Above normal temperatures are expected over Georgia (far right). {{OUTLOOK_MONTHLY}} Drought Outlook The latest monthly and seasonal outlooks can be found on the CPC homepage Links to the latest: Climate Prediction Center Monthly Drought Outlook Climate Prediction Center Seasonal Drought Outlook Drought is expected to persist across north Georgia into mid-summer. Over central Georgia. Drought Information Statements will be updated every two weeks while D2 Severe Drought (or worse) continues in north and central Georgia. {{OUTLOOK_DROUGHT_SEASONAL}}