In the month of June, drought increased across Georgia significantly, going from just 9% at the end of May to 54% by the end of the month. Many of you have told me you think even that is an underestimate of how bad things are. One of the problems with the Drought Monitor’s depiction of drought is that they are required to make a single map that balances both short- and long-term water deficits, and that does not reflect the rapid changes we see in water availability for plants, especially in our sandier soils with very high temperatures.
Fortunately, we have switched from the dome of high pressure that suppressed most showers to a more typical summertime pattern with humid air and frequent afternoon thunderstorms. Rainfall from those showers can be spotty and I know it is frustrating when it rains a mile away while you get nothing, but hopefully over time the moisture will spread around the area as the storms come and go. A few areas have even received above-normal rainfall in the last 30 days, but most of the state got less than they expected, which is especially tough when temperatures are so high. The outlook for July shows that temperatures are expected to be warmer than normal but there is no indication at this time that we are going to see very hot conditions. Precipitation is also expected to be wetter than normal, with early July seeing wetter conditions and then dropping into a drier pattern by mid-month. There will be some dry days scattered in, so you should be able to get into the fields to work, just watch your local forecasts for timing. That is also the expected pattern for July through September, so at least for now no big pattern shifts are expected.
The tropics gave us a surprise with Tropical Storm Colin, which formed from a low that tracked up along the East Coast and formed briefly over South Carolina before dissipating in North Carolina less than 24 hours later. Colin did bring some showers to eastern parts of Georgia and did not have enough wind to do much damage, especially since the strongest part of the storm stayed offshore. The long-range models do not show much tropical activity for at least the next couple of weeks, so that should not be a big concern for the first half of July. The main season really does not get going until mid-August, so there is plenty of time for the tropics to impact us later this summer.
