The six inches of rain that have fallen on the region this month have put a damper on the area’s drought.
Hamilton and many surrounding counties have been downgraded from a “severe” drought designation to “moderate” in the latest U.S. Drought Monitor data, released Thursday.
Hamilton County was downgraded from “severe” drought, where it had been since Sept. 30. Franklin and Grundy counties dropped to “Abnormally Dry,” the scale’s lowest category, while Franklin County is officially out of the drought.
To the south, a wide swath of Northeast Georgia was downgraded from the most severe level of “exceptional” drought to “extreme” drought. Most Northwest Georgia counties were downgraded to either “abnormally dry” or “moderate” drought levels. Dade, Chattooga and most of Walker County dropped all of the way to lowest designation.
Meteorologists say tri-state residents can thank the Jet Stream for bringing consecutive rain systems through the region. It has rained in Chattanooga on 13 of the last 21 days for a total of 6.77 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service. Despite the improvement, Chattanooga on Thursday morning remained nearly nine inches behind the year-to-date average.
“That right there is almost a two- or three-month total during the winter time,” said William Schmitz, climatologist at the Southeast Regional Climate Center in Chapel Hill, N.C. He said the last rain system dumped between five and eight inches of rain across the South.
“It brought pretty much a whole category of improvement,” he said.
Some areas, such as McMinn and Dade counties, got enough rain to improve two categories in a week, which Mr. Schmitz said was extremely rare. As a whole, this is the first week there is not exceptional drought anywhere in the South since June, he said.
The rain seems to has replenished reservoirs above and below ground, according to Scott Gain, director of the Tennessee Water Science Center.
“Right now, we look pretty good,” he said.
Mr. Gain explained that stream levels a few days after a storm are a good indication of the health of underground aquifers. On Thursday afternoon, all of the stream gauges in the state were above normal flow.
Mr. Schmitz cautioned that, while the drought may be easing, the region will need continued rain to keep from relapsing.
“If this turns out to be the only major rain event in the month, you never know,” he said. “It may start creeping back on us.”
Andy began working at the Times Free Press in July 2008 as a general assignment reporter before focusing on Northwest Georgia and Georgia politics in May of 2009. Before coming to the Times Free Press, Andy worked for the Anniston Star, the Rome News Tribune and the Campus Carrier at Berry College, where he graduated with a communications degree in 2006. He is pursuing a master’s degree in business administration at the University of Tennessee ...
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