By Clint Thompson
The current dry weather sweeping through the Southeast is not abnormal for this time of year. It is also not expected to improve anytime soon, says Pam Knox, University of Georgia Extension agricultural climatologist.
“The seven-day forecast I looked at (last Thursday night) for rainfall is basically zero for anything that’s north of the border between Georgia and Florida. Things are going to get worse, probably in most of Georgia, Alabama and Florida,” Knox said. “Florida at least has the potential to get more rain. I don’t know that it’s going to get as far north as the panhandle. In some respects, they’re more like Alabama than anything else. It doesn’t look like there’s going to be a big change in the pattern, at least in the next week.”
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, southern Alabama, northern Florida and southwest Georgia are anywhere from extremely dry to abnormally dry. The drought has intensified and expanded in recent weeks, which is not uncommon.
“As you know, the fall is usually the driest time of year in the Southeast. It’s not unusual to have dry spells in the fall. We have seen it intensify because of the warmer than average temperatures, so things get worse faster because there’s so much more demand on the water,” Knox said. “If you look at Alabama and even into Southwest Georgia, those areas have largely been missed by any of the rain that we’ve had in the past few weeks. They’re just getting nothing. The fact that it’s getting worse on the drought monitor shows that’s been pretty persistent because they’re pretty slow to change things.
“Certainly Alabama, western Georgia and in the panhandle of Florida, all are really dry.”