More rain Monday than all of Sept.

More rain was recorded at the Gainesville airport Monday than for all of September, which fell well shy of this year's unusually wet August in north Georgia.

According to readings taken at Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport, 4.66 inches fell Monday and another 1.14 inches early Tuesday for a two-day total of 5.8 inches. That is also well above average for October, which is typically one of the driest months of the year in Georgia. The average October monthly rainfall in Gainesville is 3.88 inches.

Rainfall for August totaled 9.7 inches. (See earlier story)

The rain, heavy at times throughout the day and into the night, cause some street flooding, resulting in several streets in the Gainesville area being closed for several hours. Some other flooding was also report, including the parking lot at Best Buy on Dawsonville Highway in Gainesville. There were also several trees toppled. (See separate story.) The top wind gust reported at the airport Monday and early Tuesday was 23 mph. To the north of Gainesville, Cornelia, according to radio station WCON, picked up 4.83 inches.

What does all this rain mean for drought-stricken Lake Lanier? Well, it's too early to tell, as usual, because all the runoff from the rain in the upper reaches of the Chattahoochee River basin, in the Cornelia area, for instance, which feeds the lake, has not arrived. WRWH in Cleveland, meanwhile, reports that 24-hour rainfall totals in White County include 6.38 inches in Cleveland and 5.94 inches in Helen, at the headwaters of the Chattahoochee. There were also reports of as much as seven inches in rain elsewhere in White County.

The level of Lake Lanier was already up at mid-morning Tuesday by about a foot from 24 hours earlier. Lanier remains about 8.5 feet below full pool.