Atlanta’s soggy summer of 2013 could soon lead to world-class mosquito swatting, as entomologists are predicting a bumper crop of the pesky insects.
They gravitate toward water – and we’ve had plenty of that. The city’s official rainfall total for 2013, measured at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport has hit 43.47 inches and counting.
In July, it’s already hit 6.15 inches – buckets more in some surrounding areas – and there’s still more than a week until we hit August.
Rain stays in the forecast – a 50 percent chance for Tuesday, 30 percent for the rest of the week, said David Chandley, Channel 2 meteorologist.
All that excess rain is likely to mean an abundance of mosquitoes in coming weeks, Elmer Gray, an entomologist with the University of Georgia’s Cooperative Extension Service, said.
The irritating insects we’re expecting don’t typically carry the dreaded West Nile virus.
The expected invasion will be from Asian tiger mosquitoes that love to congregate in old tires and clogged gutters.
The Georgia Department of Public Health recommends emptying standing water from containers such as flower pots, gutters, buckets, pet water dishes and bird baths.
Waterlogged trees, meanwhile, have added to the frustration of motorists who have put their windshield wipers to good use this summer.
On Monday afternoon, a tree landed on a vehicle on Cascade Road, temporarily trapping the people inside, Sgt. Greg Lyon with Atlanta police said..
In Cobb County, a downed tree closed Booth Road near its intersection with Sandtown Road, near Marietta.
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