For the first time in three months, there is no sign of severe drought in Georgia.
A flash drought developed in September because of extremely dry conditions made worse by late-summer excessive heat. Hall County and some surrounding areas were impacted by extreme drought conditions in early and mid-October, prompting a Level One Drought Response on Oct. 18 for 103 Georgia counties.
This week's map from the U.S. Drought Monitor shows moderate drought conditions for 11.58% of the state, including a swath along the south end of the state along the Florida border and patchy areas in Oglethorpe, Wilkes, Walton, Gwinnett, Henry, Dekalb, Rockdale and Newton counties.
Abnormally dry conditions persist for 29.68% of the state with a section of north and east Georgia most impacted by those conditions.
The National Weather Service says recent rains have eased the drought, and forecasters said rain this weekend will likely bring more relief to those areas of the state that are still parched.
