August is almost over, and a look at the temperature departures for the Southeast help explain why drought has been expanding across central and southern Georgia.  Most of northern Georgia has been fairly close to normal in precipitation, but the southern half of Georgia and particularly along the coast has been quite dry.  Combined with the above normal temperatures everywhere in the Southeast, that has led to increased evaporation and evapotranspiration, enhancing the drought conditions.  I am now starting to get comments from landowners in southern Georgia talking about the loss of crops due to the dry conditions.

Fortunately for southeast Georgia, some relief is in sight with the likely passage of the tropical storm that is now TD9 later in the week.  More on that in my next post later this evening.

aug 16 to date temp dep  aug 16 to date precip dep