Recent rainfall has provided much-needed moisture for parts of the Southeast, and it is reflected in the May 15 release of the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Georgia mostly has sufficient moisture except for a couple of areas that have abnormally dry conditions. One area includes Colquitt, Grady, Thomas, Brooks, Lowndes, Echols, Clinch, Lanier, Atkinson and Ware counties in South Georgia; as well as Chatham, Effingham, Bulloch, Bryan, Liberty, Evans, Tattnall and Long counties in Southeast Georgia. Burke, Richmond, Columbia, Lincoln, Wilkes and McDuffie counties in East Georgia are abnormally dry as well.
Only one area in Alabama is abnormally dry, and it’s in the southeast part of the state. It includes Geneva, Coffee, Dale, Henry and Houston counties.
Most of Florida is observing some level of drought. The worst is concentrated to the Southwest corner of the state where extreme drought is observed. It is impacting all or part of Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, Hendry, Collier, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. Severe drought is also observed in north-central Florida, impacting Marion, Sumter, Lake, Volusia, Putnam, Flagler and Saint Johns counties; and in southern Florida, impacting as far north as Hillsborough and Polk counties and stretching eastward to Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
Most of North Florida has abnormally dry conditions.