A report by the U.S. Drought Monitor report released Thursday shows that extreme conditions are still spread across northern Georgia. And, while parts of the state have seen scattered thunderstorms recently, experts say there's still a long way to go.
Pam Knox is Georgia's Assistant State Climatologist. She says scientists traditionally write off the first three inches of rain, because they're usually lost to evaporation.
"Yes, we are absolutely still in a drought. What we're seeing in the streams is a result of all this rainfall that we've had. And the stream flows are doing pretty well. But if we go for several days without rain stream flows really start to fall rapidly again, down back to a base level that's driven by soil moisture that is still very, very dry."
Lake Lanier … north Georgia's primary water source … is currently at 1,055 feet. That's just two feet short of the record low in December of 1981 when the lake fell to 1053 feet.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Recent rains still not enough
