Nice by-product of storms 

The Gulf storm marching has been cranking this week. We had severe storms Saturday, Monday and again Thursday night. With the rich Gulf moisture, rainfall has been plentiful and many area rivers and creeks are running at or above average. For an area that has teetering on a major drought, the last 2 months have been a blessing.

This is the winter recharge period for North Georgia and lakes and ground water supply are doing just that. Lake Lanier has climbed to its highest level since early October and Allatoona Lake's level is higher than average for late January.

The Drought Monitor finally took at turn for the better as 14% of the state is not in any sort of drought. The extreme drought level (in the red) also retreated south and only includes some fringe metro Atlanta counties. The Lake Lanier basin in NE is barely in a drought category.

It appears the rain pump will shut down for a few days after Thursday night's event, but I'm hopeful this weakening drought situation will continue. Peace.