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.
Channel 2 meteorologists reported Monday that the city’s official rainfall total for 2013, measured at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, has reached 43.47 inches, a surplus of just over 15 inches.
Atlanta’s rainfall total for July, 6.15 inches, is already above the normal rainfall for the entire month, and there’s still nine days left in the month.
Channel 2 meteorologist David Chandley said Atlanta’s chance for more rain is 70 percent Monday, 50 percent Tuesday and 30 percent the rest of the week.
All that excess rain will likely mean an excess in mosquitoes in coming weeks, according to Elmer Gray, an entomologist with the University of Georgia’s Cooperative Extension Service.
Luckily, Gray said, the variety of mosquitoes expected to skyrocket in numbers is not the type that primarily carries the West Nile virus.
The expected invasion will be from Asian tiger mosquitoes, which breed in small containers of water, such as old tires and clogged gutters.
West Nile virus, according to Gray, is primarily carried by the Southern house mosquito. Those insects breed in places like storm sewers, and the recent rains have flushed them out, leaving their populations low for now.
The Georgia Department of Public Health says residents can reduce the number of mosquitoes around their homes by regularly emptying standing water from containers, such as flower pots, gutters, buckets, pet water dishes and bird baths.
“In the heat of summer, it can take less than 10 days to go from egg to adult mosquitoes,” said Rosmarie Kelly, an entomologist with the state Department of Public Health.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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