The early spring that's settled in across Georgia could spell bad news on the drought front, according to Pam Knox, a climatologist from the University of Georgia.
The latest Georgia map from the U.S. Drought Monitor shows levels of extreme drought are again expanding after a few months of improvement.
Knox said the early flowering of plants is drying out the ground.
"Once the plants start growing, they start sucking water out of the ground, and so our soil moistures have gone down a bit," Knox told Georgia News Network (GNN).
Knox said the northern part of Georgia is feeling the pinch more than the south end of the state, since more winter rains have fallen across South Georgia.
Knox told GNN the culprit for the dry weather is a persistent ridge of high pressure that's been anchored across the eastern part of the country for much of the winter.
