Northwest and northeast Georgia are experiencing the driest 60-day period on record, according to Channel 2 Action News.
Conditions have been so dry this month, they triggered outdoor burning bans in at least five counties in or near metro Atlanta.
One of those bans went into effect Friday in Cobb County and will remain until the county gets some much-needed rain.
Milton in Fulton County as well as Douglas, Clayton and Paulding counties already have implemented similar bans, and Paulding extended its ban indefinitely Friday.
Most of the county was in an “exceptional” drought, the worst classification Friday, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Most areas of Clayton, Cobb, Douglas and Fulton are in an “extreme” drought, the second-most severe designation.
The swath of Georgia in “exceptional” drought edged closer and closer to metro Atlanta, with no change in sight.
“It will remain dry,” Channel 2 meteorologist Karen Minton said Friday. “It will remain very warm, and temperatures could be setting records in some cases.”
Water levels at Lake Lanier, Atlanta’s source of drinking water, dropped from about 1,063 feet last week to 1062.61 feet Friday. The full pool level is 1,071 feet.
Rainfall last seven days: 0
Rainfall this month: 0.16
Rainfall deficit for the year: 8.61
Rainfall deficit since Sept. 1: 3.90
Values in inches as of end of day Thursday
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