Scattered thunderstorms Wednesday did little to dent the "moderate" drought impacting North Georgia. Federal officials a day earlier declared all of metro Atlanta in the early-stage drought category while predicting a hot, dry summer.
Water levels at Lake Lanier, the region's main water source, have been dropping. Utilities are dusting off drought-management manuals. And a major shift in weather patterns has meteorologists worried that, by fall, too little rain and too much heat could exacerbate dry, but still manageable conditions.
Georgia succumbed to two nasty droughts the last decade and memories remain seared by dried-up streams and dirt-encrusted cars. For much of 2007-08, Lake Lanier resembled a half-filled bathtub with boaters swerving around newly exposed tree tops. Then-Gov. Sonny Perdue declared a drought emergency, imposed strict restrictions on lawn-watering and publicly prayed for rain.
Four years later, more than half of the state suffered an extreme, or “exceptional,” drought as crops withered in south Georgia and Florida fumed over low Chattahoochee River flows at the border.
This year's drought came up quick. Over the last six months, for example, Atlanta received 163 percent of its normal rainfall amount, according to the National Weather Service. A wet winter and early spring, though, gave way to a dryer-than-usual April and May. The region has received only 68 percent of normal rainfall — 5 inches - the last two months. Typically, it gets 7.4 inches.
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