Fontana Lake, S.W. North Carolina.
Posted on 10/28/2016 6:57:05 AM PDT by Olog-hai
Six months into a deepening drought, the weather is killing crops, threatening cattle and sinking lakes to their lowest levels in years across much of the South.
The very worst conditions — what forecasters call “exceptional drought” — are in the mountains of northeast Alabama and northwest Georgia, a region known for its thick green forests, waterfalls and red clay soil. […]
The drought has spread from these mountains onto the Piedmont plateau, down to the plains and across 13 southern states, from Oklahoma and Texas to Florida and Virginia, putting about 33 million people in drought conditions, according to Thursday’s U.S. Drought Monitor. …
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
OK, we live in NW GA on Lake Lanier.
The drought is not really 6 months in. It rained pretty normally until mid-July, then nearly nothing.
Lake Lanier is down 8 feet. That’s a lot, but not as bad as the 21 feet a decade+ ago.
We NEED good rains to start.
Seemed to me like it rained a lot in Texas this year.
Say what??? Not Texas. Texas had been a severe drought for several years but we’ve come out of it. Woo hoo, happy days! That’s all the evening news can talk about (other than how awful Trump is). Lakes are so full they’re going to lower lake levels 10 feet this January.
They are pushing this everywhere. They say we are 10 inches behind on rain for the past 6 months. But in reality we had the wettest spring for years.
It’s picking stats to promote an agenda.
Too many people, not enough infrastructure (NEW reservoirs), too many enviro-lawyers.
Here in NE Alabama, several people we know have had their water wells go dry, granted, most of those are up on the mountains or higher elevations but many area farm ponds and lakes are dried up or close to it.
Fontana Lake, S.W. North Carolina.
I lived in Alpharetta in 1999 and there was a big drought then, too. I remember Lanier was almost completely empty. Did the area recover after that drought?
We’ve only been in WV about two years, but the neighbors tell me the local river is as low as it’s been in anyone’s lifetime.
Usually we get a ton of rain with the spring thaw - so much so that mudslides are a problem.
Last year it was so wet we had mushrooms sprouting like grass even into the summer months.
This season, the rains just didn’t show up in the spring and have only had occasional rain during the summer. Barely a mushroom to be found this year anywhere. Most of the black walnut trees didn’t produce and neither did the pawpaws. Hickory nut production is way down. I don’t know if that’s related, but I suspect it is.
Acorn production, however, has been enormous. From what I’ve heard, that means a bad winter’s on the way.
We had a fairly normal Summer here in Central Alabama but the Spigot cut off in early September, and we are now approaching 45 days with no measurable rainfall.
Lake Lanier was above full pool for a while this past year.
Did the area recover after that drought?
We’ve been in extreme drought here in MA. Lately the rain has picked up and we’re finally getting some relief. Things should return to normal withthe winter snowfall.
The last drought here was in the 1960’s and lasted several years.
We live In Douglasville, Wife works Downtown. She said it would rain nearly every afternoon there. Here NEVER... it was always to the N or E of us...
Started wet enough. We could not cut hay unitl late July. It has rained very little since and we are feeling it. Soil moisture is almost not down at least 5 to 6 feet. Ponds are drying up, very unseasonably hot. We should have had lots of north wind and cool lingering rains by now. All we get are fast and mostly dry fronts that make little temperature difference.
I pay we don’t have another 2010 to 2012 time again. Our grass is just now recovering from that. We lost hundred year-old oaks then. I hoped I would not see it again in my lifetime.
My lower stock pond is still holding water.
The upper pond is dry for the first time in over 20 years.
The creek (which I won't name, 'cause it would tell people almost exactly where I live) has dried up completely...totally non-existent.
The crossings I built years ago have crumbled...so dry the soil flows out like water.
All my trees have decided to forego autumn...as in no color changes...just go straight to dead and start shedding.
Grass is dead...dead...dead.
Except directly over the sewage field lines.
Deer, turkey and all the other critters can be seen swapping out at the one pond with water in it, reminding me of a scene out of a National Geographic documentary about the African dry season.
The footprints and tractor tread marks from my planting of greens (Collards, mustard and turnip) back in August can still be seen, even though the greens are doing well...but are inedible 'cause they've not had a frost on them yet.
Really bad situation...no end in sight.
Expected high of 86 today, 87 tomorrow...no rain in 10 day forecast.
Yeah, we're in a drought.
Some years are wet. Some are dry. Who knew?
Yup, same over here—20 miles away.
One good thing out of it...
Haven’t needed to cut the grass in the past couple of months!
Next Friday shows a 50% chance of rain!
The same here in NW Florida.
Last year at this time all it did was rain. Put us > 2 months behind on our construction. The lake rose altogether I think 13 feet to about 5 feet above full pool, with the flood gates on the dam WIDE OPEN.
It’s just the ~5 year cycle we live with here in the South.
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