ROME, Ga. — As we get further into the last weeks of meteorological fall, our flash drought continues to worsen.
5.9 million Georgians are experiencing drought conditions, according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor.
In northwest Georgia, the drought has been so bad that the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a Natural Disaster Declaration for 11 counties due to the sustained period of drought. This includes: Bartow, Cherokee, Dawson, Fannin, Floyd, Gilmer, Gordon, Lumpkin, Murray, Pickens and Whitfield. This declaration allows for emergency credit assistance to be extended to farmers affected by the drought.
Over the last weeks, the incredibly dry ground and dry air has also created conditions conducive for wildfires to spread. The Georgia Forestry Commission continues to monitor new brush fires that pop up, along with contained fires that still burn.
As of November 14th, we now have about 2 percent of the state in Level 4 "Exceptional" drought. This includes Dade, Walker, Catoosa, Chatooga, and Murray counties.
The Level 3 "Extreme Drought" now extends across the entire width of the state in far north Georgia, stretching from Rome in Floyd County to Clayton in Rabun County.
Around the Atlanta metro, the Level 1 drought continues. This includes parts of Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb, Forsyth, Gwinnett, Douglass, and Coweta counties.
Some areas picked up some rain over the weekend, but rain totals in the most direly-needed regions were minimal at best. Atlanta did pick up 0.69" of rain over the weekend. That's been our only measurable rain this month.
Looking ahead, the 11Alive StormTrackers are watching what could be our most significant rain chance in months. It's still several days out, but models range from 1 to 2 or even 3 inches of rain possible in the next week across north Georgia. The lion's share of that will happen late Monday into Tuesday. For Atlanta, our last 1" rain day was back on August 6. This fall has been bone-dry, with very few "rain days" since mid-September.
This rain chance will come from a deepening area of low pressure working across the mid-South and up into the Northeast. It will pull in ample moisture from the Gulf of Mexico that will help produce an environment that can give us more than just light showers. Timing will be late Monday into early Tuesday, but it's still too early to know specifics.
See more specifics on our evolving active weather pattern for next week in our 11 Alive Local Forecast for Atlanta and North Georgia.
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