State Climatologist Dr. David Stookesbury reported today that drought conditions continue to rapidly worsen over almost all of Georgia.

The lack of widespread rain and continuing year-long drought are combining with typical high June heat to dry the soil and empty ponds statewide.

Conditions in the western half of south and middle Georgia have deteriorated the most. A few weeks ago, these regions were classified as abnormally dry. They are now in severe drought. This region includes Albany, Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, Macon and Rome. Severe drought conditions occur about once in 20 years.

Much of north-central and northeast Georgia are in extreme drought. Extreme drought conditions occur about once in 50 years.

Currently, the only counties not in drought are Glynn, Brantley, Pierce, Appling and Wayne.

Stookesbury says that the biggest concerns over the next several weeks will be stream flows and soil moisture.

Almost half of the U.S. Geological Survey stream gauges across Georgia are at record low flows today. This analysis includes only gauges with a minimum of 30 years of records. It doesn’t include gauges on the Chattahoochee River below the Buford Dam or gauges on the Savannah River.

Soil moisture north of a line from Chattahoochee County to Richmond County are at or below the 10th percentile. At this percentile, we would expect more moisture in the soils 90 out of 100 years in late June.

Click here for the full report.