Drought — South Fulton, Georgia

2007-05-01 to 2007-05-31 · South Fulton, Georgia

Wider weather episode

Drought conditions continued to worsen across the entire state during May. Rainfall deficits across many counties of north and central Georgia continued to grow as well as the number of counties classified in severe and extreme drought conditions. By the end of May 2007, 74 Georgia counties were classified as being in extreme drought, 79 in severe drought, and six in moderate drought. Counties within the Peachtree City, Georgia forecast area classified as being in extreme drought include Bartow, Carroll, Catoosa, Chattooga, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, Dade, DeKalb, Douglas, Fannin, Fayette, Floyd, Fulton, Gilmer, Gordon, Haralson, Harris, Heard, Meriwether, Murray, Paulding, Pickens, Polk, Towns, Troup, Union, Walker and Whitfield. Drought conditions in all remaining counties within the Peachtree City, Georgia forecast area were classified as severe. Rainfall deficits as of May 31, 2007 for some of the major north and central Georgia cities were:

Athens: 6:49 inches

Columbus: 8.68 inches

Macon: 9.30 inches

Atlanta: 10.02 inches

Plains: 10.09 inches

Blairsville: 13.89 inches

LaFayette: 14.06 inches

Macon observed its driest May in history with only a trace of precipitation.

Record to near-record low stream flows were reported by the end of May across the state, including the Coosawattee River near Ellijay, the Oostanaula at Resaca and Rome, the Middle Oconee near Athens, Oconee at Milledgeville and Dublin, and the Ocmulgee near Jackson and at Lumber City. Groundwater levels were dropping statewide. Many wells are approaching their average yearly low water level, normally reached in late summer or early fall. Much of the state remained under level-2 outdoor water restrictions, with total bans on outdoor watering in some west central Georgia counties.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 36553. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.