ATLANTA — El Nino continues to strengthen and could be one of the strongest on record. That means the potential for heavy rain and flooding this winter and spring in north Georgia.
The three biggest floods on the Chattahoochee River, using the NOAA river gauge at Vinings, occurred in 1919, 1946 and 2009. Historical patterns indicate an El Nino was in place during those events, which raises the question: Could we be in for flooding this winter? The answer simply put is yes.
“We could potentially have about 70 to 80 percent of our normal rainfall in a year in just a six-month period,” says National Weather Service Senior Service Hydrologist Kent Frantz.
Heavy rain during a time when vegetation is more dormant means a high potential for runoff and in turn flooding.
“We have a lot of records that were established during those months at various gauge locations in north and central Georgia,” says Frantz.
El Nino refers to the warming of the Pacific Ocean, a phenomenon that occurs every four to seven years. Thousands of miles away, this warming impacts global wind patterns, including those over the United States. But in past El Nino events, north Georgia has experienced a wetter than average winter and spring.
“The last one that we had was in [winter] ’97, [spring] ‘98. That was a very wet year for us, and we had a lot of severe weather in the spring as well. So just be prepared for extreme events this winter into next spring,” warns Frantz. “I'm very much gearing up for potentially major events this year.”
Don’t let the phrase "100-year flood" fool you. That just means there's a 1 percent chance of it happening.
Frantz suggests, “If you are in the 100-year flood plain, make sure that you check into flood insurance and make sure you’re properly insured.”
WSBTV
