Issued by NWS Atlanta, GA
000
AXUS72 KFFC 151718
DGTFFC
GAC009-011-013-015-021-023-035-045-047-053-055-057-059-063-067-
077-079-081-083-085-089-091-093-097-107-111-113-115-117-121-123-
125-129-133-135-139-141-143-145-149-151-153-157-159-163-167-169-
171-175-187-193-195-197-199-207-209-211-213-215-217-219-221-223-
225-227-231-233-235-237-247-249-255-259-261-263-265-269-271-279-
281-283-285-289-291-293-295-297-301-303-307-309-311-313-315-317-
319-162300-
DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
1220 PM EST THU JAN 15 2009
...A SEVERE TO EXTREME DROUGHT CONTINUES OVER NORTHEAST GEORGIA...
...A MODERATE DROUGHT TO ABNORMALLY DRY CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE
OVER THE REMAINDER OF NORTH GEORGIA...
SEVERAL DAYS OF RAIN WITH EMBEDDED HEAVY SHOWERS BROUGHT ADDITIONAL
RELIEF TO THE DROUGHT STRICKEN AREAS OF NORTH GEORGIA. WIDESPREAD
RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 2 TO 5 INCHES OCCURRED OVER NORTH GEORGIA DURING
THE PAST 14 DAYS. HEAVIER AMOUNTS OF 6 TO 8 INCHES OCCURRED OVER
NORTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL GEORGIA FROM SUMMERVILLE AND ROME TO
CHATSWORTH AND DAWSONVILLE. THIS CAUSED WIDESPREAD MINOR FLOODING OF
CREEKS AND RIVERS WITH OCCASIONAL MODERATE FLOODING.
THE RAINFALL DEFICITS AND SOIL MOISTURE IMPROVED OVER NORTH GEORGIA
DURING THE PAST TWO WEEKS. CONSEQUENTLY...A SEVERE TO EXTREME
DROUGHT IS NOW NORTH AND EAST OF A LINE FROM BLAIRSVILLE THROUGH
CUMMING AND WATKINSVILLE TO WASHINGTON. A MODERATE DROUGHT TO
ABNORMALLY DRY CONDITIONS CONTINUE OVER THE REMAINDER OF NORTH
GEORGIA.
WHILE THERE HAS BEEN BENEFICIAL RAINFALL...SIGNIFICANT HYDROLOGICAL
IMPACTS TO WATER SUPPLY...STREAM FLOWS AND GROUND WATER TABLES
CONTINUE OVER NORTHEAST GEORGIA. THIS INCLUDES THE LAKE LANIER BASIN
WHICH CONTINUES TO BE SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACTED BY THE LONG TERM
EXTREME DROUGHT EVEN THOUGH IT HAS RISEN AROUND 3 FEET DURING THE
PAST TWO WEEKS.
SEE HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/FFC/HTML/RAINDEF.SHTML FOR THE LATEST
U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR IMAGE AND OTHER DROUGHT RELATED INFORMATION.
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CLIMATE IMPACTS
GENERALLY 100 TO 200 PERCENT OF NORMAL RAINFALL OCCURRED OVER NORTH
GEORGIA DURING THE PAST 14 DAYS. GREATER RAINFALL AMOUNTS OVER
PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL GEORGIA WERE UP TO 300
PERCENT OF NORMAL.
LOCATION TOTAL RAINFALL NORMAL DEPARTURE PERCENT
LAST 365 DAYS VALUE FROM NORMAL OF NORMAL
ATLANTA 42.24 50.21 -7.97 84%
ATHENS 37.55 47.84 -10.29 78%
COLUMBUS 50.13 48.59 +1.54 103%
MACON 47.22 45.01 +2.21 105%
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RESERVOIRS/STREAM LEVELS
CURRENT LAKE LEVELS AT USACE PROJECTS WERE MAINLY FROM AROUND 14
FEET ABOVE WINTER POOL LEVEL AT CARTERS TO NEAR 14 BELOW AT
LANIER. THE POOL LEVELS ARE PROJECTED TO REMAIN STEADY OR SLOWLY
FALL DURING THE NEXT FOUR WEEKS.
LAKE WINTER POOL CURRENT LEVEL DEPARTURE
IN FEET
ALLATOONA 823 836.02 +13.02
CARTERS 1072 1086.06 +14.06
HARTWELL 656 645.04 -10.96
LANIER 1070 1056.23 -13.77
THURMOND 326 316.75 -9.25
WEST POINT 625 631.63 +6.63
AVERAGE STREAM LEVELS FOR THE PAST 7 DAYS RANGED FROM 30 TO 95
PERCENT OF NORMAL FLOW OVER NORTH GEORGIA DUE TO RECENT RAINFALL.
MINOR TO OCCASIONALLY MODERATE FLOODING OCCURRED OVER A LARGE
PORTION OF NORTHWEST GEORGIA.
PLEASE NOTE THAT CREEKS AND SMALLER RIVERS CAN CHANGE QUICKLY DUE TO
RUNOFF FROM HEAVY RAIN IF IT OCCURS.
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FIRE DANGER LEVELS
THE LATEST FIRE DANGER ASSESSMENT INDICATES A HIGH TO VERY HIGH RISK
ACROSS NORTH GEORGIA.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS ASSESSMENT CAN CHANGE RAPIDLY DUE TO CHANGES
IN MOISTURE LEVELS AND RAINFALL RECEIVED.
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TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION OUTLOOK
THE OUTLOOK FOR FEBRUARY...ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURE EXPECTED. EQUAL
CHANCES OF ABOVE OR BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION EXPECTED OVER NORTH
GEORGIA.
90 DAY OUTLOOK...FOR FEBRUARY THROUGH APRIL...ABOVE NORMAL
TEMPERATURE IS EXPECTED. SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION IS
EXPECTED. THE DROUGHT CONDITIONS WILL LIKELY IMPROVE OVER NORTH
GEORGIA DURING THE WINTER AND EARLY SPRING MONTHS.
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THIS DATA WAS FURNISHED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN
COOPERATION WITH THE U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY...THE GEORGIA STATE
CLIMATOLOGIST AT THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA...THE GEORGIA
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION DIVISION...AND THE U.S. ARMY CORPS OF
ENGINEERS. CURRENT FIRE DANGER ASSESSMENTS WERE PROVIDED BY THE
GEORGIA FORESTRY COMMISSION.
THE NEXT DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT IS SCHEDULED FOR THURSDAY
...JANUARY 29 2009.
$$
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