Drought Information Statement for North and Central Georgia
Valid June 25, 2026
Issued By: National Weather Service Atlanta / Peachtree City, GA
Contact Information: sr-ffc.webmaster@noaa.gov
This product will be updated July 9, 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 continued widespread drought improvement, with all of North and Central Georgia out of D3-D4 drought.
Future Conditions: While significant improvements have been made, rapid degradation may still be possible in any brief dry spells.

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): None.
D2 (Severe Drought): Catoosa, Dawson, Fannin, Gilmer, Hall, Lumpkin, Murray, Towns, Union, White, Whitfield
D1 (Moderate Drought): Banks, Bartow, Carroll, Cherokee, Cobb, Coweta, Dade, DeKalb, Douglas, Forsyth, Fulton, Gordon, Gwinnett, Haralson, Paulding, Pickens, Polk, Toombs, Walker
D0 (Abnormally Dry): Barrow, Bibb, Bleckley, Butts, Chattahoochee, Chattooga, Clarke, Clayton, Crawford, Crisp, Dodge, Dooly, Emanuel, Fayette, Floyd, Glascock, Greene, Hancock, Harris, Heard, Henry, Houston, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Johnson, Jones, Lamar, Laurens, Macon, Madison, Marion, Meriwether, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Newton, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Pike, Pulaski, Putnam, Rockdale, Schley, Spalding, Stewart, Sumter, Talbot, Taliaferro, Telfair, Treutlen, Troup, Twiggs, Upson, Walton, Warren, Webster, Wheeler, Wilcox, Wilkes, Wilkinson
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Precipitation - Past 30 Days
The Additional Rainfall Information product (MISATL) is available online at weather.gov/ffc.
Through Thursday, June 25, 2026, at 8AM:
The continued active pattern brought numerous rainfall events over the last 14-days, including some tropical moisture.  In some cases, rainfall well exceeded the 30-day normal, resulting in flash flooding.
Rainfall over the last 30-days ranged from 4 to 9 inches (up to 250% of normal) across north and central Georgia. This rainfall was enough to hold the 60-day rainfall to within -6% to nearly 200% of normal. Rainfall deficits since Jan 1st show a stark difference from those generally along and north of I20 to those south of I20. Areas of north Georgia remain 5 to 10 inches below normal, while southern areas are generally within 2 inches to as much as 5+ inches above normal (though coverage is spotty due to the convective nature of recent precipitation).
National Water Prediction Service link to the 30-day precipitation map for North and Central Georgia
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Recent Change in Drought Intensity

Drought Worsened: None.
No Change: None.
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, Union, Upson, Walker, Walton, Warren, Washington, Webster, Wheeler, White, Whitfield, Wilcox, Wilkes, Wilkinson
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Temperatures - Past 30-, 7-Days
For the 30-day period ending June 21st, average high temperatures were near to slightly below normal (+/-1.5 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 -5 degrees below normal (image right) in the 7 day period ending June 7th.
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Summary of Impacts
Streamflows have, for the most part, held onto their recover with recent rainfall, though the corridor of less rainfall through the North Georgia headwaters are still impacting flow. Warming temperatures may lead to higher demand on water sources and high evapotranspiration could see a quick return of stress on water supplies and soil moisture.

Agricultural Impacts
Reports  of significant agricultural impact have slowed further over the last 7 to 30 days.  
The Crop Progress & Condition charts shows improvement for all indicated crop types. All indicated crops are now within or above -5% of the lowest “Good + Excellent” Percentile from the last 4 years. the greatest improvements have been with the expansion of “Fair to Good” for Corn, Pasture and Range, and Peanuts. 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 summer burn bans in place. Refer to your municipality and/or water provider for mitigation or water use restriction information. 

Hydrologic Conditions and Impacts
Main Takeaways
Recent rainfall has produced rises on area creeks and rivers, and the 28-day average streamflow is generally near Normal for all but the headwater basins of North Georgia which remain Below Normal to Much Below Normal. Rural creeks and streams in central Georgia have seen marketable improvements.
With the recent rainfall, Lake and Reservoir levels have held fairly stable, 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
Top of Conservation
Zone 1
Lanier
Zone 2
Zone 2
Allatoona
Top of Conservation
Zone 1
West Point
Top of Conservation
Top of Conservation
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Agricultural Impacts
The relative soil moisture 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 50% of its total capacity, (Though areas near Columbus have reached over 60%)
North Georgia soils remain near 50% but 2-week differences in the relative soil moisture show a drying trend.
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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 <50-250 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 Little to No Risk (level 1 of 4) for all of north and central Georgia through Wednesday.

Wildfire Potential Outlook
FRI
SAT
SUN
MON
TUE
WED
L/N
L/N
L/N
L/N
L/N
L/N
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The 7-day outlook (through June 18th, pictured right):

Rainfall amounts of <1 inch forecast for the next 7-days.
Patchy rainfall coverage may lead to localized degradation.,
The 8-14 day outlook (June 18-24, image far) shows near normal conditions expected.

*Above normal conditions necessary for continued drought improvement in far North Georgia.
Precipitation Outlook
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Long-Range Outlooks
The latest monthly and seasonal outlooks can be found on the CPC homepage
For July through September:

Near normal precipitation is likely across north and central Georgia (image right). 

Chances lean towards slightly above normal temperatures over Georgia (far right). 
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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 end across much of the state with further improvement for far north Georgia.
Patchy rainfall conditions may lead to localized drought impacts which may not be representative of the majority of locations..
Drought Information Statements will be updated every two weeks while D2 Severe Drought (or worse) continues in north and central Georgia.
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