Early March rains have caused some minor flooding in central
Georgia but have brought little relief from the drought. Without
substantial additional rains, the three-year drought will persist
through the summer across the state.

West central and central Georgia received generous rain over the weekend,
with Americus reporting 5.0 inches, Buena Vista 5.1, Butler 3.9,
Columbus reporting 5.0, Covington 2.4, Macon 3.5, Milledgeville
4.8, Montezuma 3.8, Sandersville 3.4 and Talbotton 4.9.

Most Amounts More Modest

Lesser amounts were reported elsewhere in the state. North
Georgia examples include Cartersville receiving 1.0 inches,
Lafayette 0.9, Athens 1.7, Atlanta 1.8, Blairsville 0.5 and
Carnesville 1.1.

East central Georgia examples include Augusta receiving 1.9
inches, Louisville 2.5 and Warrenton 2.9.

Across south Georgia, Cairo had 2.6 inches, Camilla 4.4, Douglas
2.4, Tifton 2.8, Alma 0.6, Brunswick 0.5, Folkston 1.1, Jesup
0.7, Savannah 1.1 and Waycross 0.9.

Rainfall Deficits the Rule

Even with recent rains, most locations in Georgia are reporting
rainfall deficits for the year. The exceptions are portions of
Bartow, Floyd, Haralson, Paulding and Polk counties in northwest
Georgia. For the year, Athens is 2.27 inches below normal,
Atlanta 2.15, Augusta 2.01, Columbus 1.59, Macon 2.71, Savannah
3.86 and Tifton 4.74.

These values have improved over the past week. However, with
normal weekly rainfall ranging from 1.1 to 1.4 inches across the
state, conditions can quickly deteriorate if the rain doesn’t
continue.

Even with the recent rains, national Climate Prediction
Center models indicate that soil moisture remains very low
across north and south Georgia. Recent rains have brought soil
moisture levels across the central part of the state to near
normal.

Stream Flows Improve

Stream flows have shown recovery from record to near-record low
flows late last week. However without additional rains, this
recovery will be short-lived, and streams will return to
extremely low levels.

Even with the helpful recent rains, drought conditions are
expected to continue across the state. We will need several more
rains like last weekend’s to have any significant, long-lasting
impacts on the drought in Georgia.