http://www.lawrencevilleweather.com/blog/2008/07/june-in-review-and-a-preview-of-august.html Comments on the weather in Lawrenceville Georgia Fri, 21 Nov 2008 05:27:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 http://www.lawrencevilleweather.com/blog/2008/07/june-in-review-and-a-preview-of-august.html#comment-2846 Morgan Kemp Sun, 20 Jul 2008 14:09:15 +0000 http://www.lawrencevilleweather.com/blog/?p=484#comment-2846 Here we are, in this seemingly insurmountable Georgia (and Southeast) drought. I am an optimist but have some thoughts on the issue. Let’s go back a few years. Georgia was in a severe drought in the years 1998-2003. This drought lifted in 2004 and reservoirs and streams filled back up. The current drought then began in mid 2006, but many forget about 2005. In 2005, Georgia was virtually bone-dry up until late September, when the first of 3 tropical systems rolled through the state. I remember this because my Bermuda grass was basically almost dead until these tropical storms gave it new life. So, to put that into perspective, it wasn’t climate, or Low Pressure systems, weather fronts, pop-up thundershowers (which are basically hit and miss anyway) that brought Georgia out of the drought of 2005 – but multiple tropical systems. Then we get to 2006…another very, very dry year in Georgia, albeit, with NO tropical relief in the Fall. 2007: came within .20 inches of being the single driest year in Georgia History! It actually WAS the driest year in Georgia history for many cities/towns in Georgia! Now, we are in 2008. We received decent rains in the early Spring but now the same pattern (8 out of the last 10 years!) exists. I am not a Meteorologist and am not educated on Climate Patterns…maybe they do oscillate in decades-long patterns, but I don’t think so. Anyway, we are sitting here in 2008 doing the same thing we have been doing for most of the last 10 years…waiting for Tropical moisture. The chances that a nice Tropical Storm will roll right up through Georgia have to be miniscule. With wind shear, water temps, etc, etc, it’s just not going to happen. 2005 was a beautiful year in that we got 3 of these systems! September-October 2005 continues to be the most rain I’ve received (due to the tropical moisture) and haven’t had even near that volume since. What I see now are trees dying, trees with half of their limbs permanently bare due these ongoing droughts, ponds literally drying up, wildlife (hummingbirds, etc) virtually non-existent at my house. The list is long and growing. Right now, Georgia is in its single wettest month of the year historically. For Seattle 2 years ago, Texas last year, the Midwest, New England, etc...This brought tons of rain. For Georgia, in July, I have 2.4 inches of rain…with not much at all forecast the remainder of the month. It seems like the only time we get rain anymore is during the Winter, when everything is dormant. Except for this Winter, NOAA is calling for much dryer conditions in Georgia from OCT-APR 2009. This is a crisis and, I believe, is evidence of a permanent changing of the climate in the Southeastern United States, to a more arid climate. All I know is, waiting for tropical systems, that may or may not come, is not going to end this drought! Here we are, in this seemingly insurmountable Georgia (and Southeast) drought. I am an optimist but have some thoughts on the issue. Let’s go back a few years. Georgia was in a severe drought in the years 1998-2003. This drought lifted in 2004 and reservoirs and streams filled back up. The current drought then began in mid 2006, but many forget about 2005. In 2005, Georgia was virtually bone-dry up until late September, when the first of 3 tropical systems rolled through the state. I remember this because my Bermuda grass was basically almost dead until these tropical storms gave it new life. So, to put that into perspective, it wasn’t climate, or Low Pressure systems, weather fronts, pop-up thundershowers (which are basically hit and miss anyway) that brought Georgia out of the drought of 2005 – but multiple tropical systems. Then we get to 2006…another very, very dry year in Georgia, albeit, with NO tropical relief in the Fall. 2007: came within .20 inches of being the single driest year in Georgia History! It actually WAS the driest year in Georgia history for many cities/towns in Georgia! Now, we are in 2008. We received decent rains in the early Spring but now the same pattern (8 out of the last 10 years!) exists. I am not a Meteorologist and am not educated on Climate Patterns…maybe they do oscillate in decades-long patterns, but I don’t think so. Anyway, we are sitting here in 2008 doing the same thing we have been doing for most of the last 10 years…waiting for Tropical moisture. The chances that a nice Tropical Storm will roll right up through Georgia have to be miniscule. With wind shear, water temps, etc, etc, it’s just not going to happen. 2005 was a beautiful year in that we got 3 of these systems! September-October 2005 continues to be the most rain I’ve received (due to the tropical moisture) and haven’t had even near that volume since. What I see now are trees dying, trees with half of their limbs permanently bare due these ongoing droughts, ponds literally drying up, wildlife (hummingbirds, etc) virtually non-existent at my house. The list is long and growing. Right now, Georgia is in its single wettest month of the year historically. For Seattle 2 years ago, Texas last year, the Midwest, New England, etc…This brought tons of rain. For Georgia, in July, I have 2.4 inches of rain…with not much at all forecast the remainder of the month. It seems like the only time we get rain anymore is during the Winter, when everything is dormant. Except for this Winter, NOAA is calling for much dryer conditions in Georgia from OCT-APR 2009. This is a crisis and, I believe, is evidence of a permanent changing of the climate in the Southeastern United States, to a more arid climate. All I know is, waiting for tropical systems, that may or may not come, is not going to end this drought!

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