Drought Information Statement for North and Central Georgia Valid June 11, 2026 Issued By: National Weather Service Atlanta / Peachtree City, GA Contact Information: sr-ffc.webmaster@noaa.gov This product will be updated June 25, 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. Continued Drought Improvement Following Continued Soaking Rains Improvements Continue: Significant rainfall over the last several weeks has led to widespread drought improvement of 1 to 3 levels in all but Union County. Introduced First Area with No Drought: The greatest rainfall amounts have fallen over portions of northwest GA which has led to the first area (though small) out of drought since the December 9th, 2025 issuance. 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): None. D3 (Extreme Drought): Fannin, Gilmer, Lumpkin, Towns, Union, White D2 (Severe Drought): Banks, Barrow, Bibb, Butts, Carroll, Catoosa, Clarke, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, Crawford, Crisp, Dawson, DeKalb, Douglas, Emanuel, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Greene, Gwinnett, Hall, Haralson, Harris, Henry, Jackson, Jasper, Jones, Lamar, Meriwether, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Murray, Newton, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Paulding, Pike, Putnam, Rockdale, Spalding, Talbot, Telfair, Toombs, Troup, Upson, Walton, Wheeler, Whitfield D1 (Moderate Drought): Baldwin, Bartow, Bleckley, Chattahoochee, Cherokee, Dade, Dodge, Dooly, Glascock, Gordon, Hancock, Heard, Houston, Jefferson, Johnson, Laurens, Macon, Madison, Marion, Muscogee, Peach, Pickens, Polk, Pulaski, Schley, Stewart, Sumter, Taliaferro, Taylor, Treutlen, Twiggs, Walker, Warren, Washington, Webster, Wilcox, Wilkes, Wilkinson D0 (Abnormally Dry): Chattooga, Floyd D4 (Exceptional Drought): D3 (Extreme Drought): D2 (Severe Drought): D1 (Moderate Drought): D0 (Abnormally Dry): {{DROUGHT_MONITOR}} Precipitation - Past 30 Days The Additional Rainfall Information product (MISATL) is available online at weather.gov/ffc. Through Thursday, May 14, 2026, at 8AM: The continued active pattern brought numerous scattered rainfall events over the last 14-days. In some cases, rainfall exceeded the 30-day normal, resulting in flash flooding. Despite the fast run-off, the significant rainfall resulted in widespread drought improvements. Rainfall over the last 30-days ranged from 4 to 9 inches (~100 to 250% of normal) across north and central Georgia. This rainfall was enough to boost the 60-day rainfall to within -6% to nearly 200% of normal. The majority of the state still has deficits of 5-10 inches since October 1, around when this drought period began, which is a marketable improvement. However, continued deficits means much of the area will be more sensitive to any dry periods. National Water Prediction Service link to the 30-day precipitation map for North and Central Georgia {{PRECIPITATION}} 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: None. No Change: Union Drought Improved: Baldwin, Banks, Barrow, Bartow, Bibb, Bleckley, Butts, Carroll, Catoosa, Chattahoochee, Chattooga, Cherokee, Clarke, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, Crawford, Crisp, Dade, Dawson, DeKalb, Dodge, Dooly, Douglas, Emanuel, Fannin, Fayette, Floyd, Forsyth, Fulton, Gilmer, Glascock, Gordon, Greene, Gwinnett, Hall, Hancock, Haralson, Harris, Heard, Henry, Houston, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Johnson, Jones, Lamar, Laurens, Lumpkin, Macon, Madison, Marion, Meriwether, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Murray, Muscogee, Newton, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Paulding, Peach, Pickens, Pike, Polk, Pulaski, Putnam, Rockdale, Schley, Spalding, Stewart, Sumter, Talbot, Taliaferro, Taylor, Telfair, Toombs, Towns, Treutlen, Troup, Twiggs, Upson, Walker, Walton, Warren, Washington, Webster, Wheeler, White, Whitfield, Wilcox, Wilkes, Wilkinson The 4-week change map is available here. The 1-week change map is shown right. {{DROUGHT_CHANGE_MAP}} Temperatures - Past 30-, 7-Days *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 June 7th, average high temperatures were near to slightly below normal (-2 to +/-0 degrees) over most of north and central Georgia (image center, table). The more active weather pattern, high amounts of cloud coverage, and precipitation produced temperatures -1 to -6 degrees below normal (image right) in the 7 day period ending June 7th. {{TEMPERATURE}} Summary of Impacts Links: See/submit Condition Monitoring Observer Reports (CMOR) and view the Drought Impacts Reporter Hydrologic Impacts Streamflows have seen held onto their recover with recent rainfall during a more active weather pattern. However, warming temperatures encourage further green up, higher demand on water sources and increased evapotranspiration could see quick return of stress on water supplies and soil moisture. See slide 7 for additional details. Agricultural Impacts Reports of significant agricultural impact have slowed over the last 7 to 30 days. Reports from the penultimate week of May reported dire crop and pasture conditions and the depletion of natural water sources. The Crop Progress & Condition charts shows improvement for all indicated crop types. Though all remain below the prior 4 year conditions for “Good to Excellent” coverage, the greatest improvements have been with the expansion of “Fair to Good”. 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 (summer or otherwise) 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 Jones County, 5/04/2026. Main Takeaways Recent rainfall has produced rises on area creeks and rivers, and the 28-day average streamflow still generally ranges from Normal to Extremely Low in all major river basins (though a few regions are above to much-above normal due to pockets of heavier rain). Rural creeks and streams have begun to marketable improvements. With the recent rainfall, Lake and Reservoir levels have improved, with many reservoirs near or above 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 1 Lanier Zone 2 Zone 3 Allatoona Top of Conservation Zone 1 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 25 to 40% of its total capacity, Improvements across Georgia over the last two weeks is patchy due to the nature of the recent rainfall (far right image). With portions of the I-85 corridor seeing the greatest improvements. Image Captions: Left: 0-200cm Relative Soil Moisture from NASA SPoRT. Valid dates listed at top of image. Right: 0-200 cm Relative Soil Moisture 2-week Change from NASA SPoRT. Valid dates listed at top of image. {{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 <50-300 in most locations, given the recent rainfall. KBDI provides an estimate of dryness of soils and surface fuels) At this time, near normal wildland fire potential is expected for southeast portions of Georgia for July, as indicated in the Significant Wildland Fire Potential Outlook (far right). However, any summer dry-spells may see quick development of wildland fire potential. The Wildfire Potential Outlook (table) indicates Moderate (level 3 of 4) for portions of east central Georgia Friday and Saturday. Wildfire Potential Outlook Significant Wildland Fire Potential Monthly Outlook for July 2026. Keetch Byram Drought Index for June 10, 2026. {{FIRE_WEATHER}} The 7-day outlook (through June 18th, pictured right): Rainfall amounts of 2 to 5 inches are forecast for the next 7-days. The greatest amounts are expected over area which have already seen the greatest improvement, The 8-14 day outlook (June 18-24, 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 June through August: Near 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 but improve across all but far north Georgia through the coming months. Drought removal is expected or has begun in portions of central and western Georgia into mid-summer. Drought Information Statements will be updated every two weeks while D2 Severe Drought (or worse) continues in north and central Georgia. {{OUTLOOK_DROUGHT_SEASONAL}}