Drought conditions in Georgia have mostly ended, according to the latest data from the U.S. Drought Monitor.
“Technically, we still have some dry conditions out there but we are no longer in what is deemed drought conditions,” said Laura Belanger, senior service hydrologist for the National Weather Service in Peachtree City.
This is the first week where there has not been an area of severe drought in Georgia.
Moderate to heavy rains (4 to 6 inches) in Georgia over the last few weeks fell on much of north-central Georgia that was still experiencing abnormally dry to severe drought conditions. The area near Augusta received more than 8 inches of rain. "The steady rainfall system is what has pulled us out of the drought," Belanger said.
In areas of North and South Georgia that are still having some dryness, upcoming rains are expected to bring a full recovery if not in the next week or so, certainly in the next few months, said state climatologist Bill Murphey.
The winter months are considered a period of recharge across the state with rainfall typically at 4 inches each month from January through March, he said.
Some stream levels in South Georgia are still a bit low but those too are expected to benefit from coming rains.
Drought conditions began in late September when record-breaking heat and low rainfall quickly produced dry areas across the Southeast region. While it has been one of the shorter droughts in the state, it made a big impact, Belanger said.
“The impacts were really felt in our agricultural community, where they were having livestock and crop issues, so I know they must be breathing a sigh of relief.”
Dry pasture, limited hay amounts and low water supplies forced many livestock farmers to use supplemental feeding. In parts of Georgia, cattle was sold off as water sources dried up, according to the Southeast Region Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook.
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Georgia peanut farmers in dry areas struggled to get plants out of the ground, while those in areas that experienced heavy rainfall watched their peanuts get knocked off the vines, said Pam Knox, agricultural climatologist at the University of Georgia, in a previous interview with the AJC.
Looking ahead, it is still too early to know for sure how drought conditions will play out in the spring.
Temperatures are expected to be above normal for January through March but there is an equal chance of Georgia seeing above, below or normal amounts of rainfall. And don’t even think about possible snowfall.
“It is too early to tell,” Murphey said, “Anything is fair game when it comes to snow.”
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