May 16, 2012
www.gfb.org
Vol. 30 No. 20
DROUGHT CONDITIONS CONTINUE THROUGHOUT GEORGIA Dry conditions throughout Georgia have continued and and taken on increased severity according to University of Georgia climatologist Pam Knox. In an April state climate report, Knox noted that April 2012 was warmer and dryer than normal, with temperatures 2 to 4 degrees above normal and scarce rainfall across the state, leading to increases in drought conditions across the majority of the state. While consistent rainfall would boost farmers’ ability to plant and help the plants thrive, Knox said the higher temperatures make it unlikely that the drought conditions will improve. Since the beginning of May, showers and thunderstorms have passed through most of the state, dropping up to two inches at some locations. The rain and the cooler temperatures associated with the cloudy conditions have improved surface soil moisture and stream flows somewhat. “If we continue to get rain, that would be a good sign,” Knox said. “People could plant as long as we continue to get some rain.” According to the most recent report of the U.S. Drought Monitor issued May 8, more than 96 percent of Georgia was abnormally dry, up nearly 20 percentage points from the same time in 2011. More than 88 percent of the state was experiencing drought conditions rated as moderate or worse. Nearly 26 percent of the state - in areas encompassing large portions of central and southwest Georgia - was rated as experiencing exceptional drought, the drought monitor’s rating for the most severe drought conditions. Visit http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/DM_state.htm?GA,SE to view Georgia’s drought statistics in their entirety. Meanwhile, the National Weather Service issued a report on May 3 that the La Nina conditions that have been a major contributor to the drought that has affected much of the South since early 2011 have transitioned into El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) neutral conditions. Some National Weather Service (NWS) forecast models indicate that the end of the La Nina conditions could result in more rainfall later this year. La Nina typically triggers drier conditions during winters in the Southeast. Some of the NWS models predict the ENSO neutral conditions will continue through June. La Nina years also tend to have more tropical storm systems develop. Knox said the two main drought-diminishing events - thunderstorm activity and tropical storms - have low predictability, noting that the last two years have been active years in terms of tropical storms, but none of them have moved across Georgia. “One tropical storm can hugely change the soil conditions, and that changes everything,” Knox said. “Even if we get normal rainfall things will continue to get drier because of the high temperatures in the summer, but if we get it regularly the farmers should do OK.”