Despite rain, drought continues in most of Georgia
Despite a thrashing from one thunderstorm after another, most of Georgia remains in a drought that is expected to endure at least through summer.
Atlantans can water their lawns and wash their cars with aplomb, though. The dry conditions mostly affect portions of the state south of the metro area, said David Stooksbury, Georgia's state climatologist.
"We've had good rain in the northern part of the state," he said.
Very good: rainfall in Atlanta is 114 percent of the average over the past 30 days and about average over the past six months. Lake Lanier is at full pool and has hovered around that level, currently 1,071 feet above sea level, since the winter. It was 20 feet below that in the depths of the drought in 2007.
Meanwhile, cities to the south, such as Macon and Columbus, have gotten less half their average rainfall over the past month and are running at about two-thirds of average for the past half year.
The dearth of rainfall in the state's prime agricultural areas will probably exact a financial penalty on growers. The soil in the coastal plain is so dry that it could hurt export crops, such as peanuts, cotton, corn and soybeans, Stooksbury said.
"This year," he said, "the main concern is for agriculture."
About the Author
Ty Tagami is a staff writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Since joining the newspaper in 2002, he has written about everything from hurricanes to homelessness. He has deep experience covering local government and education, and can often be found under the Gold Dome when lawmakers meet or in a school somewhere in the state.
