Drought Information Statement for North and Central Georgia Valid August 6, 2026 Issued By: National Weather Service Atlanta / Peachtree City, GA Contact Information: sr-ffc.webmaster@noaa.gov This is the final Drought Information Statement for the drought period beginning September 2025. 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. Official Drought Ends in North and Central Georgia Historic Peak: The drought period began in late September 2025 and reached its peak in April, when it encompassed 100% of Georgia for the first time in the history of the U.S. Drought Monitor. Conditions Officially End: As of this week, the conditions have dropped below D2 Severe Drought, officially concluding this drought event across north and central Georgia (the NWS Atlanta forecast area). 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): None. D2 (Severe Drought): None. D1 (Moderate Drought): Dawson, Fannin, Forsyth, Hall, Lumpkin, Towns, Union, White D0 (Abnormally Dry): Baldwin, Banks, Barrow, Bartow, Bibb, Bleckley, Butts, Carroll, Catoosa, Chattooga, Cherokee, Clarke, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, Crawford, Crisp, Dade, DeKalb, Dodge, Dooly, Douglas, Emanuel, Fayette, Floyd, Fulton, Gilmer, Glascock, Gordon, Greene, Gwinnett, Hancock, Haralson, Harris, Heard, Henry, Houston, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Johnson, Jones, Lamar, Laurens, Macon, Madison, Marion, Meriwether, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Murray, Newton, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Paulding, Peach, Pickens, Pike, Polk, Pulaski, Putnam, Rockdale, Schley, Spalding, Stewart, Sumter, Talbot, Taliaferro, Telfair, Toombs, Treutlen, Troup, Twiggs, Upson, Walker, Walton, Warren, Webster, Wheeler, Whitfield, Wilcox, Wilkes, Wilkinson 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, Bibb, Bleckley, Crawford, Houston, Jasper, Jones, Macon, Peach, Pulaski, Putnam, Twiggs, Wilkinson No Change: Butts, Chattahoochee, Chattooga, Clayton, Coweta, Crisp, Dooly, Fayette, Floyd, Glascock, Greene, Henry, Jefferson, Madison, Meriwether, Muscogee, Oglethorpe, Spalding, Sumter, Taylor, Toombs, Washington Drought Improved: Banks, Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Catoosa, Cherokee, Clarke, Cobb, Crawford, Dade, Dawson, DeKalb, Dodge, Douglas, Emanuel, Fannin, Forsyth, Fulton, Gilmer, Gordon, Gwinnett, Hall, Hancock, Haralson, Harris, Heard, Jackson, Johnson, Lamar, Laurens, Lumpkin, Macon, Marion, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Murray, Newton, Oconee, Paulding, Pickens, Pike, Polk, Rockdale, Schley, Stewart, Talbot, Taliaferro, Telfair, Towns, Treutlen, Troup, Union, Upson, Walker, Walton, Warren, Webster, Wheeler, White, Whitfield, Wilcox, Wilkes 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, July 23, 2026, at 8AM: Generous coverage of typical summertime convection has produced above normal rainfall over the area in the last 30 to 60 days. Rainfall amounts of generally 3 to 7.5 inches (65 to 160 percent of normal) were common across the area in the 30-day period, with 8 to 12 inches (90 to 130 percent of normal) occurring over the 60-day period. The wetter conditions have continued to lead to improvements in the drought area-wide, including a drop out of ‘official drought’ over north and central Georgia as of this week. National Water Prediction Service link to the 30-day precipitation map for North and Central Georgia {{PRECIPITATION}} 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 August 2nd, average high temperatures were near to slightly above normal (generally 0.0 to 1.0 degrees) over most of north and central Georgia (image center, table). Average low temperatures during this same period, however, were generally 1.3 to 2.1 degrees above normal. The overall average high temperatures for the 7-days (ending August 2nd) were slightly cooler than normal, ranging from -3 degrees below to 0 above normal, largely due to higher diurnal precipitation coverage and cloudiness. {{TEMPERATURE}} Summary of Impacts Links: See/submit Condition Monitoring Observer Reports (CMOR) and view the Drought Impacts Reporter Hydrologic Impacts Streamflows have generally stayed within normal to above-normal ranges with steady diurnal precipitation activity, often including heavy downpours and training storms. Away from the river channels, this rainfall has also produced isolated flash flooding in the last 14-days. 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 continued agricultural improvements within the last month. All seasonal crops remain near the 5-year average progress chart and coverage of “Good-to-Excellent” conditions, though on the low end. Crop conditions remain sensitive to further patchy dry conditions. 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 but no drought restrictions. Refer to your municipality and/or water provider for mitigation or water use restriction information. Main Takeaways The continued high-coverage summertime convection has produced regular rainfall across the state in the last two weeks. The moist environment with heavy rainfall and often training storms have produced sufficient runoff to keep 14-day average streamflows at Normal to Much Above Normal levels, particularly in the Atlanta Metro area. Lake and Reservoir levels have largely improved through the summer months with some reservoirs near or above seasonal normals. The available elevation curves for USACE projects in the NWS Atlanta/Peachtree City area show: *Action zones used in some charts are defined here. USACE Lakes Current Action Zone Forecast Action Zone Carters Zone 1 Top of Conservation Lanier Zone 2 Zone 2 Allatoona Top of Conservation Zone 1 West Point Top of Conservation Top of Conservation 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. In the last two weeks (far right image), good soil moisture improvement has occurred, particularly in portions of north and northeast Georgia. 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 have remained >250 in most locations, indicating some dryness. Succinctly, KBDI measures how dry the ground is to predict forest fire risk. At this time, normal wildland fire potential is expected for southeast portions of Georgia for August and September (pictured far right), as indicated in the Significant Wildland Fire Potential Outlook. Wildfire Potential Outlook FRI SAT SUN MON TUE WED L L L/N L/N L/N L Significant Wildland Fire Potential Monthly Outlook for the month listed at the top of the image. Keetch Byram Drought Index for the date listed at the top of the image. The Wildfire Potential Outlook (table) indicates Little/NoRisk (level 1 of 4) to Low (level 2 of 4) for portions of north and central Georgia through Wednesday. {{FIRE_WEATHER}} 38 weeks Harris County Longest Consecutive Period of Drought for this 2025-2026 Event: 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 and ending August 2026, 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: 100.0% of GA April 28, 2026 Largest D2-D4 coverage in Georgia (for this drought period): {{Drought History/Historical Context}} The 7-day outlook (through August 13th, pictured right): Rainfall amounts of 0.25 to 3 inches are forecast in the next 7 days.. Highest forecast amounts (>1.25 inches) are generally over north Georgia. The 8-14 day outlook (August 13-19, image far right) shows above average precipitation over far north Georgia and near-normal conditions elsewhere. 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 Through September: Near normal precipitation is likely across north and central Georgia (image right). Above normal temperatures (40-60% chance) are outlook for 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 improvements are expected to continue. Drought Information Statements for this drought period have now concluded. Statements will not be issued again until at least D2 Severe Drought Conditions return to at least one entire county in north and central Georgia. An archive of statements will remain posted at: weather.gov/ffc/DroughtInformationStatement {{OUTLOOK_DROUGHT_SEASONAL}}