Drought Information Statement for North and Central Georgia
Valid July 09, 2026
Issued By: National Weather Service Atlanta / Peachtree City, GA
Contact Information: sr-ffc.webmaster@noaa.gov
This product will be updated July 23, 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.
Drought Expansion Returns
Drought Expansion: Patchy rainfall across central Georgia while rainfall across north Georgia has been below maintenance levels necessary to avoid drought expansion.
Future Conditions: While significant improvements have been made since April, rapid degradation may still be possible in any brief dry spells (like those seen in north Georgia). Further Drought Information Statement issuances remain likely.

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, Forsyth, Gilmer, Hall, Lumpkin, Murray, Towns, Union, White, Whitfield
D1 (Moderate Drought): Banks, Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Cherokee, Clarke, Cobb, Coweta, Dade, DeKalb, Douglas, Fulton, Gordon, Gwinnett, Haralson, Jackson, Morgan, Newton, Oconee, Paulding, Pickens, Polk, Rockdale, Toombs, Walker, Walton
D0 (Abnormally Dry): Bibb, Bleckley, Butts, Chattooga, Clayton, Crawford, Crisp, Dodge, Dooly, Emanuel, Fayette, Floyd, Glascock, Greene, Hancock, Harris, Heard, Henry, Houston, Jasper, Jefferson, Johnson, Jones, Lamar, Laurens, Macon, Madison, Marion, Meriwether, Monroe, Montgomery, Oglethorpe, Pike, Pulaski, Putnam, Schley, Spalding, Stewart, Sumter, Talbot, Taliaferro, Telfair, Treutlen, Troup, Upson, 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, July 09, 2026, at 8AM:
Typical summer-time convection has resulted in patchy rainfall coverage across the area. Most observations sites have seen between 2 to 4 inches of rainfall in the last 30-days and 4 to 6 inches of rainfall in the last 60-days. Most sites are within the 50% - 125% range for rainfall, however outliers now sit as high as 200% and as low as 60% (highlighting the potential for localized drought impacts). The Rome (KRMG) site (30-day accumulation) has been excluded from this update due to irregularly low data values which may be indicative of patchy rain coverage -or- data quality issues.
The main area of concern includes the Chattahoochee Basin and areas to the north (including the mountains of North Georgia). Below normal rainfall (<75% of normal) continues area wide, resulting in below normal streamflows, developing water stress, and sensitivity to further dry conditions.
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: Dawson, Forsyth
No Change: Bartow, Catoosa, Chattooga, Cherokee, Floyd, Gordon, Pickens, Polk, Walker
Drought Improved: Baldwin, Banks, Barrow, Bibb, Bleckley, Butts, Carroll, Chattahoochee, Clarke, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, Crawford, Crisp, Dade, DeKalb, Dodge, Dooly, Douglas, Emanuel, Fannin, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gilmer, Glascock, 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, Pike, Pulaski, Putnam, Rockdale, Schley, Spalding, Stewart, Sumter, Talbot, Taliaferro, Taylor, Telfair, Toombs, Towns, Treutlen, Troup, Twiggs, Union, Upson, 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 July 5th, average high temperatures were near to slightly above normal (-0.5 to 1.2 degrees) over most of north and central Georgia (image center, table). The 7-day period ending July 4th saw temperature anomalies of 3 to 8 degrees above normal, highlighting the recent warmer conditions and patchier rain coverage.
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Summary of Impacts
Links: See/submit Condition Monitoring Observer Reports (CMOR) and view the Drought Impacts Reporter
Hydrologic Impacts 
Streamflows have managed to hold onto their recover with recent patchy rainfall, though the corridor of less rainfall through the North Georgia headwaters has begun to impact river flows. Warming temperatures and continue patchy rain coverage may lead to higher demand on water sources. Summertime evapotranspiration could see a quick return of stress on water supplies and soil moisture.  See slide 7 for additional details.

Agricultural Impacts
Reports of significant agricultural impact have remained low 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. Recent patchy dry conditions have resulted in a slight degradation in conditions for peanuts, pasture and range. See slide 8 for additional details on soil moistures.
Fire Hazard Impacts
Rainfall and fuel moistures have permitted NWS and fire partners to remain at 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. 

CMOR report photo from Jones County, 5/04/2026.

Main Takeaways
Recent rainfall has maintained near normal streamflow for most sites south of the Chattahoochee, while limited rainfall north of the Chattahoochee has resulted in streamflows dropping back Below-to-Much Below Normal.
Lake and Reservoir levels have held fairly stable, with some reservoirs near or above seasonal normals. Northern reservoirs have begun to see pool levels drop and may begin water conservation practices soon. 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 3
Zone 3
Allatoona
Top of Conservation
Zone 1
West Point
Zone 1
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. 
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Agricultural Impacts 
Even with the recent rainfall, the deep soil profile across the majority of Georgia is still only at 25 to 45% of its total capacity, (Though areas near Columbus have reached over 60%)
Soils have continued to dry relative to conditions 2-weeks ago. 
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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 have degraded to >250 in most locations, due to recent heat and patchy 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 August, as indicated in the Significant Wildland Fire Potential Outlook (far right). Further 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
L
M
L
L/N
L/N
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The 7-day outlook (through July 16th, pictured right):

Rainfall amounts of <1 inch to >3 inches forecast for the next 7-days.
Highest forecast amounts located over some of the areas with the greatest need.
Patchy rainfall coverage may lead to localized degradation.
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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

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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. 

Chances lean towards slightly above normal temperatures over Georgia. 
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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 improve or end end across much of 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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