The rain we’ve had so far this winter has helped to reduce the drought’s impact on Lake Lanier, with the lake level now about a foot above its record low back in mid-December. Our best hope for a major turnaround lies in the likelihood of some significant rainfall from now through the end of March.

February and March typically are some of the wettest months of the year, with an average of 4.7 and 5.4 inches of precipitation respectively.  So far, February is running slightly below normal, but with more than half an inch of rain predicted for Sunday and a storm the weekend of the 22nd that could bring over an inch, we could quickly get to normal.  The Climate Prediction Center is calling for a better than normal chance of rain for the period between the 21st and the 29th.

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This week is Severe Weather Awareness Week in Georgia. The National Weather Service holds severe weather awareness weeks in each state, usually about the time of year when that state is most vulnerable to tornadoes, hail, and thunderstorms.

The week will be highlighted by a statewide tornado drill on Wednesday morning.

In addition to tornadoes and thunderstorms, officials will be trying to draw attention to the risks of flooding, lightning, and extreme heat and cold; however for most folks, thunderstorms and tornadoes are the biggest threat, primarily because they can occur with little or no warning.

If you’ve lived in the Atlanta area for a while, you’ll probably remember the severe tornadoes that occurred on April 8th and 9th, 1998. Overnight, storms brought down trees and caused extreme destruction in Cobb County, Dunwoody, Norcross, and Duluth. Many people not in the direct path of the storms woke up the next morning to the terrible news.

At the time, I was working near Georgia 400 and Abernathy Road, near the part of Dunwoody that was largely destroyed. The storm made me think, and I realized that it might be a good idea to buy a NOAA weather radio that would automatically alert me if a tornado or thunderstorm warning was issued in the middle of the night.

Unfortunately, it seemed that there were none to be found in North Georgia. I wanted a newer radio that used SAME technology. This technology only sets off the radio’s alarm if a warning is issued in the county or counties you specify. I didn’t need to be woken up in the middle of the night for a warning that wouldn’t affect me.

I finally located one at a Radio Shack in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They only had one, a demo version. Since I was going to Cambridge on a business trip, I figured I would pick it up there and bring it home.

The punch line, if there is one, is that the unit was defective, and I ended up exchanging it for a new one once they were in stock back here in Georgia.

If there is a moral to the story, it’s be prepared. If you don’t have a weather radio, they are fairly cheap, and could potentially save your life. Go out and get one now, before the severe weather season starts.