The latest Drought Monitor was released this morning. It shows that while small areas of drought disappeared in Virginia, it stayed the same or increased in other areas of the Southeast. The biggest increase was in northern Georgia, where the percent of the state in moderate drought increased from 12 to 26 percent of the state. Drought now covers the entire northern quarter of the state.
Scattered showers over the next day are not expected to bring much relief to the area, and it may be several days before another wide-spread rain even occurs, most likely late next week, so drought conditions could expand even further in the next Drought Monitor. The Climate Prediction Center forecasts that warmer and wetter conditions than normal are expected for most of the next month, so I hope this will mean more rainfall returns to the area. We can surely use it here in Athens!
