By Clint Thompson
The lingering dry weather following Hurricane Helene has left drought-like conditions expanding and worsening across certain areas in the Southeast.
Pam Knox, University of Georgia (UGA) Extension agricultural climatologist, said the chance of rain in the forecast in grim for the immediate future.
“I looked at the seven-day outlook and there’s no rain in most of Georgia and a lot of the Southeast for at least the next week. If you look a little further out, some of the patterns look like they’re going to shift, maybe around the end of the first week of November,” Knox said. “I think we have another week of dry conditions before we really see a break. Sooner or later, it’s going to switch to a late fall or early winter kind of pattern. But we don’t see any signs in the short term that it’s going to happen. There’s a big high, over really the whole eastern part of the United States. It’s been very dry.”
Alabama Drought
The prolonged drought is especially prevalent in Alabama. Drought-like conditions continue to cover the majority of the state.
According to the most recent release of the U.S. Drought Monitor, moderate conditions in the state start as far south as Mobile and Baldwin counties near the Gulf of Mexico and stretch northward to North Alabama counties, including Lauderdale, Limestone, Madison and Jackson counties.
Severe conditions are concentrated in the south-central part of the state, including counties like Marengo, Perry, Dallas and Wilcox. Abnormally dry conditions are observed in other parts of Alabama where there is insufficient moisture.
“They didn’t have any benefit from the tropical storm,” Knox said. “In the Southeast in the summer, 20% to 40% of our rain comes from tropical systems. If you don’t have them, you’re likely to go into a drought, and that’s what we’re seeing this year.”