Drought in Savannah

I've mentioned the drought in several posts about the fires in Waycross. I found this public information statement from the National Weather Service today, telling us that this past April was the 3rd driest April in Savannah since 1870.

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
351
PM EDT MON APR 30 2007

...THIRD DRIEST APRIL ON RECORD IN SAVANNAH...

RAINFALL FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL AT THE SAVANNAH AIRPORT WAS ONLY 0.33 INCHES. THIS MAKES IT THE THIRD DRIEST APRIL...SINCE RECORDS HAVE BEEN KEPT. RECORDS HAVE BEEN KEPT AT THE SAVANNAH AIRPORT SINCE 1870.

THE DRIEST APRIL EVER IN SAVANNAH OCCURRED IN 1892...WHEN ONLY 0.16 INCHES OF RAINFALL WAS RECORDED. THE SECOND DRIEST MONTH OF APRIL OCCURRED IN 1942...WHEN 0.28 INCHES OF RAINFALL OCCURRED.

SO FAR THIS YEAR ONLY 6.93 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN AT THE SAVANNAH AIRPORT...WHICH IS 6.90 INCHES BELOW THE NORMAL OF 13.83 INCHES FOR THE YEAR TO DATE.

BY COMPARISON...THE MOST RAINFALL EVER AT SAVANNAH DURING THE MONTH OF APRIL OCCURRED IN 1991...WHEN 10.57 INCHES OF RAIN WAS RECORDED.

THE FORECAST FROM THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER IS FOR CONTINUED BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL FOR THE TWO WEEK PERIOD ENDING ON MAY 13.

THE MOST RECENT THREE MONTH OUTLOOK OF PRECIPITATION...ALSO ISSUED BY THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER AND COVERING THE MONTHS OF MAY...JUNE AND JULY...IS FOR NEAR NORMAL RAINFALL. THE NORMAL RAINFALL FOR SAVANNAH FOR THESE THREE MONTHS IS 15.14 INCHES.

DUE TO THE LACK OF RAINFALL...THE LATEST UNITED STATES DROUGHT MONITOR NOW SHOWS MODERATE TO SEVERE DROUGHT CONDITIONS ACROSS MUCH OF SOUTHEAST GEORGIA AND COASTAL PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN SOUTH CAROLINA.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT...
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/CHS.

YOU CAN ALSO VISIT THE DROUGHT MONITOR WEBSITE AT...
WWW.DROUGHT.UNL.EDU/DM/MONITOR.HTML.

$$