Sunny, cloudless days have been nice for Chattanooga residents over the past month, but lawns and crops could pay for it later this year.
Hamilton, Catoosa, Walker, Marion and Dade counties have returned to “moderate drought” conditions after February rainfall totals were less than half the average amount for the month.
Official readings for Chattanooga show 2.24 inches of precipitation for February, or 2.61 inches below average.
March is looking better, however, as forecasts call for more than 3 inches of rain for the region over the next four days.
It was a different story earlier this year. The weather was so dry, in fact, the meteorological winter – December, January and February – was the third-driest in Chattanooga’s 80-year historical record, according to William Schmitz, a climatologist with the Southeast Regional Climate Center.