Drought conditions continue to linger across the Southeast, according to the Jan. 15 release of the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Alabama
The driest area remains in Southeast Alabama, South Georgia and North Florida. Severe conditions in Alabama start in the southeast corner of the state in Houston and Henry counties, expand northward to Lee and Chambers counties and westward to Escambia, Conecuh, Butler and Lowndes counties. Severe conditions are also observed in the western part of the state in Marengo, Choctaw, Hale and Greene counties.
Abnormal drought and moderate drought cover the rest of Alabama.
Georgia
South Georgia remains the driest part of the state with extreme drought observed in the southern parts of Seminole, Decatur, Grady, Thomas and Brooks counties. Severe drought covers most of the region, starting from the southwest corner of the state in Seminole, Miller and Early counties; expanding as far north as Harris, Meriwether, Upson, Lamar, Monroe, Bibb, Twiggs, Wilkinson, Jenkins and Screven counties; and moving eastward to Effingham, Chatham, Bryan, Liberty, McIntosh and Glynn counties along the Atlantic Coast.
Severe conditions are also observed in the northeast part of the state, starting in Columbia, McDuffie and Warren counties and expanding northward to Hart, Franklin, Banks and Jackson counties. Moderate drought encompasses most of northern Georgia.
Florida
Extreme conditions in Florida are observed in the Panhandle in all or part of Jackson, Calhoun, Liberty, Gadsden, Leon, Wakulla and Jefferson counties. Severe drought is also seen in North Florida, starting in Santa Rose and Okaloosa counties, expanding eastward to Nassau and Duval counties and as far south to Pasco and Hernando counties. Another stretch of severe drought conditions starts in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties and extends south to Monroe and Miami-Dade counties.
Moderate conditions encompass most of the remaining parts of the state.