It's official: record rains recorded in Ga. in '09

UNDATED - Who would have thought a year ago when we were still in the throes of a prolonged drought that we'd be talking about record rainfall and normal lake levels a year later? Well, that's the case.

Parts of north and central Georgia ended 2009 with records amounts of rain... or near records.

Columbus beat its old record by 30 inches, recording 80.2 inches; 2009 was the second-wettest year on record in Atlanta; and, Macon recorded its third-wettest. Gainesville recorded 71.69 inches, which was about 17 inches above normal.

Lake Lanier, which started 2009 nearly 18 feet below full pool reached full pool in October and is beginning the new year still pretty close to that 1071.00 mark. The level of the lake early Saturday was 1070.66.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been trying for a couple of months to bring the level down to 1070... the winter-time optimum. But persistent rains have kept the agency from reaching that goal. It had hoped to have the level lowered to 1070 by December 1.

(The Associated Press contributed to this story.)