A week of rain - and more to come

It's not been 40 days and 40 nights. But it's now been raining for a week across most of north Georgia and the totals are beginning to mount up.

In Gainesville, Sunday marked the eighth straight day of measurable rain at Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport. The total through midnight Sunday was 5.64 inches, adding to the surplus recorded the first six months of the year. That amounted to 11.11 inches. (See earlier story. Link below.)

The largest single-day total for the week was 1.24 inches on Saturday.

And, more rain is expected this week and next week, according to AccuWeather.com (and the National Weather Service has extended the Flash Flood Watch through Monday evening. See separate posting). In fact, you have to go all the way to Saturday, July 20, before you find a daily forecast that doesn't mention rain. However, on several of the days between now and then the forecast is for only "isolated" showers with abundant sunshine - the typical type of weather seen in Georgia this time of the year.

Temperatures, which have been running below normal most days during the rainy spell (sometimes as much as 11 degrees below average), are expected to climb back into the "normal" range on several occasions over the next few days - in the upper 80s.

The level of Lake Lanier is benefiting from all the rain. The level Monday topped 1073 for the second time since it reached summertime full pool of 1070 on May 19. The level as of 9:45 Monday morning was 1073.20, that's up 1.5 feet since last Monday. Runoff from the past week's rains continues to flow into the lake and that, coupled with any additional rain, is likely to push the lake level even higher.