Spotty showers have been the trend the past few weeks in metro Atlanta.
Showers have moved through north Fulton, Cherokee, Cobb and DeKalb counties, to name a few. They caused power outages and storm damage in some areas of Atlanta. Rain even washed out a section of Ga. 108 May 3 in Cherokee County, according to Channel 2 Action News.
But bouts of heavy rain aside, Atlanta has been dry this spring. If you’re looking for some complicated explanation for the dry spell, don’t. It’s just an off period. And, weather experts said, that happens from time to time.
Atlanta normally gets about 10 inches of rain from March 1 to May 12, but the city got about 6 inches during that period this year, according to data from the National Weather Service.
“We’re almost 4 inches behind since March 1,” Channel 2 meteorologist Karen Minton said.
And upcoming showers are still expected to produce low rain totals.
Isolated storms could turn strong to severe Thursday in Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Fulton, Gwinnett and Hall counties.
Those scattered storms could produce hail and gusty winds Friday in south and central Georgia.
But even with the marginal risk of severe weather, conditions will only yield about a half-inch of rain in most metro areas by noon Friday.
“There’s no doubt that we’ve gone into a little bit of a drought period,” said Kent Frantz, a service hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Peachtree City.
Don’t worry. The rain outlook for the next 90 days still shows greater precipitation than normal in north and central Georgia.
Frantz said he isn't predicting a longer drought until next year when impacts of El Nino, such as more intense rainfall, will diminish.
The current dry spell just means “people will still need to use their sprinklers if they want to keep things going,” Frantz said.
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