Note that if drought conditions are not being experienced, or in the case of river flooding or heavy rain, this statement may be used to indicate river flows or flood potential.
000
FGUS74 KHUN 152240
ESFHUN
ALC033-043-049-059-071-077-079-083-089-095-103-TNC051-103-127-
220000-
HYDROLOGIC OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
540 PM CDT THU MAY 15 2008
...RECENT RAINFALL CONTINUES TO IMPROVE DROUGHT CONDITIONS...
SYNOPSIS...
ACCORDING TO THE LATEST U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR...ALL OF SOUTHERN
MIDDLE TENNESSEE...CULLMAN...MORGAN...MADISON...JACKSON...DEKALB
AND A PORTION OF LAWRENCE COUNTIES...ARE IN THE SEVERE DROUGHT /D2/
CATEGORY. THIS IS A SLIGHT IMPROVEMENT OVER LAST WEEK AS A PORTION
OF THIS AREA WAS IN THE EXTREME /D3/ DROUGHT CATEGORY. MUCH OF
FRANKLIN...LAWRENCE AND LIMESTONE COUNTIES ARE IN THE MODERATE
DROUGHT /D1/ CATEGORY. THE AREA OF ABNORMALLY DRY /D0/ CONDITIONS
HAS GRADUALLY EXPANDED EAST TO INCLUDE MUCH OF LAUDERDALE...THE
WESTERN HALF OF COLBERT AND EXTREME NORTHWEST FRANKLIN COUNTIES.
AT THIS TIME...NO PART OF NORTHERN ALABAMA AND SOUTHERN MIDDLE
TENNESSEE IS IN THE EXTREME /D3/ DROUGHT CATEGORY.
SUMMARY OF IMPACTS...
STATE AND LOCAL ACTIONS:
AS OF THE LATEST DECLARATION ON APRIL 22ND...THE STATE NO LONGER HAS
ANY COUNTIES UNDER A DROUGHT EMERGENCY. ALL ELEVEN COUNTIES IN THE
NWS HUNTSVILLE COVERAGE AREA ARE NOW IN A STATE-DECLARED DROUGHT
WARNING.
HYDROLOGIC IMPACTS:
WITH THE RECENT RAINFALL...STREAMFLOWS ACROSS THE CENTRAL TENNESSEE
VALLEY ARE NOW RUNNING AROUND NORMAL.
MOST AREA LAKE LEVELS CONTINUE TO REMAIN NEAR OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE
NORMAL FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR...AND WELL ABOVE LAST YEAR`S LEVELS.
THE EXCEPTIONS ARE BEAR CREEK LAKE...WHICH IS PURPOSELY BEING HELD
WELL BELOW THE USUAL LEVELS DUE TO CONSTRUCTION WORK...AND LITTLE
BEAR CREEK LAKE...WHICH IS ALSO SEVERAL FEET BELOW NORMAL BUT RISING.
WATER RESTRICTIONS HAVE EASED SIGNIFICANTLY OVER MANY AREAS.
RESIDENTS SHOULD CONSULT THEIR LOCAL WATER AUTHORITY FOR DETAILS
ON POSSIBLE RESTRICTIONS. FOR WATER CONSERVATION AND PROTECTION
TIPS...VISIT:
HTTP://WWW.EPA.GOV/WATER/CITIZEN/THINGSTODO.HTML (ALL LOWER CASE).
AGRICULTURAL IMPACTS:
SOIL MOISTURE RANKINGS ACROSS THE CENTRAL TENNESSEE VALLEY ARE
MAINLY BETWEEN THE 10TH AND 30TH PERCENTILE...WITH THE EXCEPTION
OF NORTHWEST ALABAMA...WHICH IS AROUND THE 50TH PERCENTILE.
FIRE DANGER IMPACTS:
THE ALABAMA FORESTRY COMMISSION CURRENTLY HAS NO COUNTIES IN A FIRE
ALERT OR DROUGHT EMERGENCY.
CLIMATE SUMMARY...
RAINFALL FOR APRIL WAS AT OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL. THIS HAS HELPED
SIGNIFICANTLY IN THE SHORT AND MEDIUM RANGE DROUGHT SITUATION.
RAINFALL THROUGH THE FIRST HALF OF MAY IS RUNNING AT OR SLIGHTLY
ABOVE NORMAL.
PRECIPITATION TOTALS FOR THE YEAR TO DATE RANGE FROM ABOUT TWO
INCHES BELOW NORMAL TO AS MUCH AS EIGHT INCHES BELOW NORMAL IN
FRANKLIN COUNTY ALABAMA AND COLBERT COUNTY. RAINFALL TOTALS FOR THE
LAST 90 DAYS ARE 70 TO 85 PERCENT OF NORMAL.
THE RAINFALL TOTAL AND DEFICIT TABLES THAT HAVE BEEN INCLUDED IN
THIS STATEMENT ARE NOW BEING ISSUED A MINIMUM OF TWICE PER MONTH AS
A PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT. THIS CAN BE FOUND UNDER AWIPS ID
HUNPNSHUN OR WMO ID NOUS44 KHUN. SEE BELOW FOR A WEB LINK.
PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK...
A COLD FRONT WILL CLEAR THE AREA BY EARLY FRIDAY MORNING /MAY 16/.
ADDITIONAL SHOWERS AHEAD OF THIS FRONT WILL GENERALLY BRING LIGHT
RAINFALL AMOUNTS. A COUPLE OF UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES WILL BRING
A THREAT OF LIGHT PRECIPITATION TO THE AREA THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF
NEXT WEEK...WITH A BETTER CHANCE FOR RAINFALL TOWARDS THE END OF THE
WEEK AS A MOIST SUBTROPICAL AIRMASS RESIDES ACROSS THE REGION.
THE OUTLOOK FOR WEEK TWO...MAY 23RD THROUGH MAY 29TH...INDICATES
CONTINUED ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION CHANCES.
THE LONGER-RANGE OUTLOOK FROM JUNE THROUGH AUGUST INDICATES EQUAL
CHANCES FOR BELOW...NEAR...OR ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION AND
TEMPERATURES.
THE LATEST SEASONAL DROUGHT OUTLOOK INDICATES IMPROVEMENT OF DROUGHT
CONDITIONS OVER SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE AND NORTHWEST AND NORTH
CENTRAL ALABAMA. THIS DOES NOT IMPLY AN END TO THE DROUGHT...BUT A
CONTINUED EASING OF DROUGHT-RELATED IMPACTS. THE OUTLOOK INDICATES
SOME IMPROVEMENT IS EXPECTED THIS MONTH OVER NORTHEAST ALABAMA...
IMPLYING A BRIEF CONTINUED EASING OF DROUGHT-RELATED IMPACTS.
HOWEVER...CONDITIONS COULD BEGIN TO DETERIORATE AGAIN IF MORE
REGULAR RAINFALL IS NOT EXPERIENCED.
NEXT ISSUANCE DATE...
THE NEXT SCHEDULED STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED ON THURSDAY...MAY 22ND.
UPDATES WILL OCCUR SOONER IF ANY CONDITIONS DEPICTED IN THIS OUTLOOK
CHANGE.
&&
RELATED WEB SITES... /ALL LOWER CASE/
FOR MUCH MORE DROUGHT INFORMATION...VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT
HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/HUNTSVILLE.
FOR A TABLE OF PRECIPITATION DEFICITS...GO TO
HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/HUNTSVILLE/PRODUCTVIEW.PHP?PIL=PNS&SID=HUN
YOU MAY NEED TO CLICK ON THE PREVIOUS VERSIONS NUMBERS TO ACCESS THE
LATEST TABULAR INFORMATION.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...
SOME DATA USED IN THIS STATEMENT WERE PROVIDED BY THE U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE...COUNTY EXTENSION AGENTS...THE U.S.
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY...THE TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY...AND THE STATES
OF ALABAMA AND TENNESSEE.
QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS...
FOR QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ON THE DROUGHT...CONTACT:
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
320A SPARKMAN DRIVE
HUNTSVILLE AL 35805
PHONE: 256-890-8503
SR-HUN.WEBMASTER@NOAA.GOV
IMPORTANT PRODUCT NOTE...
ON JUNE 10TH 2008...THIS PRODUCT WILL MOVE TO A NEW PRODUCT
IDENTIFIER AND BE NAMED THE "DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT." THE NEW
PRODUCT IDENTIFIER IS HUNDGTHUN AND THE WMO HEADER IS AXUS74 KHUN.
AFTER JUNE 10TH...THE "HYDROLOGIC OUTLOOK" PRODUCT WILL BE RESERVED
FOR FLOODING POTENTIAL. FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS...SEE THE PUBLIC
INFORMATION STATEMENT.
$$
NADLER
