According to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor, drought conditions exist in nearly 60 percent of the state of Georgia.

North Georgia, including Metro Atlanta, is experiencing D1 Moderate Drought conditions.

In the Northwest Georgia Mountains, Exceptional Drought (D4) have now developed in Dade and Walker counties, areas that have been fighting wildfires that have developed in those areas.

Extreme Drought (D3) conditions continue to spread south and east, now moving into northern Bartow and Cherokee counties as well as Lumpkin County -- just to the west of Dahlonega.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the impacts associated with “Moderate to Severe Drought” conditions include the following:

Metro Atlanta is all dried up this Fall

Meteorological Fall is defined as September 1 through November 30.

On average, Fall is the driest season in Metro Atlanta -- but Fall 2023 is really dry.

The first two months of the season are in the books, and only 3.07 inches of rainfall has fallen since Labor Day weekend.

Only 1.29 inches of rain fell at the official reporting station near the Atlanta Airport in September 2023. I make this distinction, because on September 14, as much as four inches of rain fell in the Vine City/western Downtown Atlanta area, however only 0.09 inches of rain was recorded at the official reporting center at the Airport.

It only rained eight days in September, and that dry trend continued in October. As of this writing, the last time it rained in Metro Atlanta was October 20 -- nearly three weeks ago!

Notably, Lake Lanier levels are approximately 8 feet below “Summer Level” as of Wednesday morning, and Lake Allatoona is registering 10 feet below “Summer Level”.

Burn bans are not in effect, however remain cautious with any bonfires or camp fires this season. Rainfall is in the forecast this weekend, but it will be a drop in a very dry bucket for North Georgia, as only 0.5 inches to 0.75 inches of rain is expected between Friday morning and Sunday evening.

Share Your Rainfall Reports With Me!

Facebook: Christina Edwards WSB

Instagram: ChristinaWSBwx

Twitter: @ChristinaWSBwx

TikTok: @ChristinaEdwards955WSB

©2023 Cox Media Group