ATLANTA — The drought worsened at the start of November in north Georgia. Now, for the first time, since December of 2016, there is a Level 4 'exceptional' drought in part of the state.
This is centered in northwest Georgia -- in Dade, Walker, Catoosa, Chattooga, and Walker counties. In Ringgold, only 0.64 inches of rain has fallen since the start of meteorological fall on Sept. 1.
The dry conditions have dried pastures and are creating significant obstacles for Georgia's agricultural industry. This week, several counties declared local states of emergency due to the worsening dry conditions.
This drought developed rapidly this fall and is referred to as a "flash drought." Georgia's State Climatologist Bill Murphey, said the pattern this fall has exhausted the dry conditions.
"Typically, October's a dry month, the driest month of the year for Georgia," he said. "September, November, right behind. But we just had this real quick, rapid, dry, you know, dry condition that came in."
Murphey said that amid the lack of rainfall, "moisture-starved" weather systems didn't help the conditions.
The drought has also fueled several wildfires across the northwest corner of the state. This includes a 700+ acre fire in Walker County that was deemed caused by arson earlier this week.
A Level 3 "extreme drought" now extends across the rest of northwest Georgia down to Floyd, Bartow, Dawson, Lumpkin, and Union counties.
A Level 2 "severe drought" now is in place from Cherokee County up to Rabun County, which started its own burn ban on Thursday.
For the Atlanta area, a "moderate drought" continues in the north and western sides of the metro, including Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb, Forsyth and Gwinnett counties. This also extends up into Hall County and the Lake Lanier area, which is at its lowest level in five years.
Rain is coming this weekend, but it won't be enough to wipe out the drought altogether. The 11Alive StormTrackers are predicting 0.5" to 1" on average through Sunday.