By Clint Thompson
Rainfall has been more persistent in recent days across the Southeast. According to Pam Knox, University of Georgia Extension agricultural climatologist, that current trend should continue over the next few weeks in Georgia, Alabama and Florida.
“It’s look like we’ve switched into a much wetter pattern. We were under this high pressure that lasted for most of June. That high pressure just shut down any chance of rain, and it was really hot, too,” Knox said. “That high has moved off to the Northeast, so it’s not really dominating our weather. We’re getting a lot more flow into the Southeast from off the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. It means there’s more moisture and it’s much easier for storms to develop when you have that source of energy.
“It’s a typical pattern where we don’t have much in the morning, and as we get heating during the day, we get more lifting motion and we get more storms developed. They usually last until late in the evening, and then everything dies down overnight. It starts again the next day.”
Spotty in Places
While the rains have increased in consistency, they have also been spotty in some areas.
“Some places get a lot, and they can get several inches. Some of the rainfall amounts have been several inches in just a few hours. Other places just get missed over and over again,” Knox said. “You can have a neighbor that’s not that far away from you that’s much different climate conditions that you are, and that’s a very typical summertime pattern. You’d like to hope that over time, it kind of evens out.”
According to most recent release of the U.S. Drought Monitor, extreme drought is spreading in two areas in North Alabama. Most of Georgia is either abnormally dry or moderately dry, while Northeast Florida is abnormally dry. Knox expects the monitor to improve over the next couple of weeks.
“I think the last map is about as dry as it’s going to show. With the rain we’ve had lately, I would expect it to start swinging back towards less drought conditions,” Knox said.