Tropical Storm Lee gave northwestern Georgia a good soaking, and it put an end for now to daytime highs in the 90s in metro Atlanta, but aside from extreme northwest Georgia it failed to give much relief to the drought-parched state, weather watchers tell the AJC.
The U.S. Drought Monitor updated Thursday by federal authorities showed that the moderate drought reported recently for much of North Georgia has ended.
So, the drought is over for now in Catoosa, Dade, Walker, Chattooga, Whitfield, Murray, Gilmer and Fannin counties and northern Union County, said former state climatologist David Stooksbury at the University of Georgia in Athens.
"Just to the south of those, we've got a narrow strip ... that's still abnormally dry but not in the drought category," Stooksbury told the AJC in a phone interview Thursday.
Moderate drought conditions begin in Bartow, Cherokee, Forsyth and Hall counties, with severe drought persisting in the rest of the state south of the Atlanta metro area.
Assistant state climatologist Pam Knox said northwest Georgia reported up to 8 inches of precipitation, but "most of the state did not get much rain from Tropical Storm Lee … barely an inch, or not even that."
Channel 2 Action News meteorologist David Chandley said, "The recent rain did not do a whole lot for our drought situation. Most of the heavy rain was well into northwest Georgia, and that area was only in a moderate drought to begin with."
"We are entering our driest time of the year -- September and October -- so the only major relief will come from another tropical system, and that is certainly possible," Chandley said.
To be sure, after weeks of hot, parched conditions, any moisture at all is appreciated.
“The rain has been helpful,” said Chris Nelson, executive vice president of the Piedmont Park Conservancy. “We didn’t really get as much rain as was originally predicted in Atlanta, and I think we could have used another inch or two, but the fact we did get an inch or so in the last couple of days has been extremely helpful.
“But it doesn’t get us completely out of the woods,” Nelson said. “Unless we get additional rain in the next week or so, we’ll be back to intensely watering these trees again. The soil moisture had dropped so low, it takes a good bit of rain to recharge things.”
Last week, the Conservancy put out a call for volunteers to help hand-water trees. Volunteers were expected to be needed at least through the end of September.
Also last week, the Office of the State Climatologist reported that this has been the third-hottest summer on record for Atlanta, with an average high temperature of 92.5 degrees for the months of June, July and August. This also has been the city's ninth-driest summer, with only 6.38 inches of rain recorded – roughly half the average rainfall.
Most of Georgia south of the mountains is in “extreme” drought, the second-worst condition after the exceptional drought now afflicting places like Texas. Metro Atlanta sits on the dividing line between extreme drought to the south and severe to moderate drought to the north.
The ongoing drought and the excessive heat of earlier this summer brought a federal agriculture disaster area designation Thursday.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said that 150 of Georgia's 159 counties suffered crop production losses great enough to warrant the disaster designation, which allows them to apply for emergency loans and other benefits.
The request to federal officials had been made by Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, who said he hoped the available aid would relieve some of the burden the drought had imposed on the state's No. 1 industry.
Relief is hoped for in the form of a tropical storm bringing massive amounts of moisture. But though Lee spun off tornadoes that damaged hundreds of homes Monday north of Atlanta and generated flooding from Louisiana to New York, it brought drought relief to only a small part of the state.
Meteorologist Robert Garcia in the Peachtree City office of the National Weather Service said that in Walker County, just south of Chattanooga, "we saw 11 inches on the rain gauge measurement from 7 a.m. Sept. 4 to 7 a.m. Sept. 6. Southern Chattooga County got 8.5 inches … and Rome, 6.26 inches."
“I don’t see anything in the metro area above 2 inches, except Cartersville got about 3 inches," Garcia said. Officially, Atlanta recorded only 0.93 inches of rain, at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
Water levels remained virtually unchanged at the metro area’s two major reservoirs, Lakes Lanier and Allatoona, according to the Weather Service.
Last week, AJC.com reported that Lake Lanier’s level of 1,064.89 feet above sea level was just over six feet below “full pool,” which is 1,071 feet. Since then, it's fallen by about six inches. The level at Lake Allatoona -- 833.61 feet -- last week also was just over six feet below that reservoir’s full pool of 840 feet above sea level. Its level this week is unchanged.
Back in Atlanta, the Piedmont Conservancy is closely watching the trees it planted in the last 24 months -- native species including oaks, maples, magnolias, beeches and dogwoods. Young trees are particularly vulnerable to dry conditions “because they have not developed the extensive root systems needed to support a tree of that size,” Nelson said.
But even some mature trees have shown signs of stress, he said.
“Die-back in the leaf canopy; what’s referred to as ‘flagging’ – instead of standing up rigid and upright in the correct position, they’re kind of flagging down, like they’re wilting; premature leaf drop, and premature development of fall color are all things that clue you in to trees being dry,” Nelson said.
Metro residents can at least enjoy some relief from the 90s.
The Severe Weather Team 2 forecast for the next few days calls for overnight lows in the 50s and daytime highs ranging from the mid 70s Thursday to the 80s Friday and Saturday. Mostly sunny skies are predicted.
The next chance of rain is Monday, Chandley said.
-- The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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