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Tropical depression Nicole brings relief to Chattanooga region but doesn’t break drought

Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / Ginkgo leaves are submerged in a puddle in a sidewalk at Jack Benson Heritage Park in East Brainerd, while the playground is empty, on Nov. 11, 2022. Meteorologists say the remnants of Hurricane Nicole helped but won't quite bust the drought that has gripped the Chattanooga area over the past weeks.
Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / Ginkgo leaves are submerged in a puddle in a sidewalk at Jack Benson Heritage Park in East Brainerd, while the playground is empty, on Nov. 11, 2022. Meteorologists say the remnants of Hurricane Nicole helped but won't quite bust the drought that has gripped the Chattanooga area over the past weeks. Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / Ginkgo leaves are submerged in a puddle in a sidewalk at Jack Benson Heritage Park in East Brainerd, while the playground is empty, on Nov. 11, 2022. Meteorologists say the remnants of Hurricane Nicole helped but won't quite bust the drought that has gripped the Chattanooga area over the past weeks.

By Ben Benton 3 min read

Despite Thursday night and Friday’s deluge across the Tennessee Valley, the rain from tropical depression Nicole might not bust the drought gripping Southeast Tennessee and North Georgia, but it did help settle the dust, according to weather experts.

“It’s definitely going to be some of the best rain we’ve had in months now,” National Weather Service meteorologist Andrew Moulton said in a phone interview Friday as the storm system slowly tracked northwest across East Tennessee. Moulton works in the weather service office in Morristown, Tennessee.

“All across East Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama, it looks like all good news from all this rain,” Moulton said. “But I’m not going to say this will totally eliminate it because you need several more rounds of similar amounts of rain.”

The deficit from a weekslong dry period has built up, he said.

“Since Sept. 1 we’ve had about 5 inches of rain, but that’s still about 4 inches below normal,” Moulton said.