HYDROLOGIC OUTLOOK FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
210 PM EDT THU MAY 8 2008
...DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT...
...AN EXTREME TO SEVERE DROUGHT CONTINUES OVER NORTH AND WEST
CENTRAL GEORGIA...
...ABNORMALLY DRY TO MODERATE DROUGHT CONDITIONS CONTINUE OVER
THE REMAINDER OF CENTRAL GEORGIA...
A FEW DAYS OF SHOWERS AND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS BROUGHT SOME
IMPROVEMENT TO THE DROUGHT STRICKEN AREAS OF NORTHWEST GEORGIA.
RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES OCCURRED IN THIS AREA DURING THE
PAST 14 DAY PERIOD. ISOLATED HIGHER AMOUNTS OF 3 TO 4 INCHES
OCCURRED OVER THE LITTLE TALLAPOOSA RIVER BASIN IN CARROLL COUNTY.
UNFORTUNATELY...RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF ONE INCH OR LESS OCCURRED OVER
THE REMAINDER OF NORTH AND MOST OF CENTRAL GEORGIA.
THE RAINFALL DEFICITS CONTINUE TO WORSEN AND THE SOIL MOISTURE HAS
BEGUN TO DECLINE ACROSS MOST AREAS OF NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA
DURING THE PAST TWO WEEKS. CONSEQUENTLY...THE EXTREME TO SEVERE
DROUGHT CONTINUES OVER NORTH AND WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA...NORTH OF A
LINE FROM HAMILTON THROUGH MCDONOUGH AND MADISON TO CRAWFORDVILLE.
ABNORMALLY DRY TO MODERATE DROUGHT CONDITIONS CONTINUE OVER CENTRAL
GEORGIA.
WHILE THERE HAS BEEN SOME BENEFICIAL RAINFALL PRIMARILY IN NORTHWEST
GEORGIA...SIGNIFICANT HYDROLOGICAL IMPACTS TO WATER SUPPLY...STREAM
FLOWS AND WATER TABLES ARE STILL OCCURRING OVER MOST OF NORTH AND
CENTRAL GEORGIA. THE PRIME RECHARGE AND RECOVERY PERIOD FOR AREA
LAKES HAS ENDED. THIS INCLUDES THE LAKE LANIER BASIN WHICH HAS BEEN
SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACTED BY THE LONG TERM DROUGHT.
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 75 TO 125 PERCENT OF NORMAL RAINFALL OCCURRED OVER
NORTHWEST GEORGIA DURING THE PAST 14 DAYS. LESSER RAINFALL AMOUNTS
OVER THE REMAINDER OF NORTH AND MOST OF CENTRAL GEORGIA WERE FROM
10 TO 50 PERCENT OF NORMAL.
LOCATION TOTAL RAINFALL NORMAL DEPARTURE PERCENT
LAST 365 DAYS VALUE FROM NORMAL OF NORMAL
ATLANTA 37.05 50.25 -13.20 74%
ATHENS 31.45 47.87 -16.42 66%
COLUMBUS 43.08 48.63 -5.55 89%
MACON 44.51 45.08 -0.57 99%
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RESERVOIRS/STREAM LEVELS
CURRENT LAKE LEVELS AT USACE PROJECTS WERE MAINLY FROM AROUND 2 FEET
ABOVE SUMMER POOL LEVELS AT CARTERS TO AROUND 13.5 FEET BELOW AT
LANIER. THE POOL LEVELS ARE PROJECTED TO REMAIN NEARLY STEADY OR
SLOWLY FALL DURING THE NEXT FOUR WEEKS.
LAKE SUMMER POOL CURRENT LEVEL DEPARTURE
IN FEET
ALLATOONA 840 839.92 -0.08
CARTERS 1074 1075.97 +1.97
HARTWELL 660 651.92 -8.08
LANIER 1071 1057.52 -13.48
THURMOND 330 321.44 -8.56
WEST POINT 635 634.73 -0.27
AVERAGE STREAM LEVELS FOR THE PAST 7 DAYS WERE GENERALLY 1 TO 36
PERCENT OF NORMAL FLOW IN MOST OF NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA DUE TO
THE LACK OF RECENT RAINFALL.
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 MODERATE TO HIGH RISK
ACROSS NORTH AND CENTRAL 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
FOR MAY...THE OUTLOOK FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA...EQUAL
CHANCES OF ABOVE OR BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION ARE
EXPECTED. THE DROUGHT CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST OVER NORTH AND
CENTRAL GEORGIA UNLESS SIGNIFICANT RAIN IS RECEIVED.
90 DAY OUTLOOK...FOR MAY THROUGH JULY...EQUAL CHANCES OF ABOVE OR
BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION ARE EXPECTED.
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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
...MAY 22 2008.
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