Columbus got 2.56 inches of rain Monday. Rome got 1.21 inches, according to the National Weather Service in Peachtree City.
``They got lucky,'' meteorologist Mike Leary said.
Meanwhile, the Atlanta area was not so lucky.
Rain and fog caused some problems for travelers at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which got only .46 inches of rain.
Gainesville picked up .33 inches Monday, bringing the three-day total to .38 inches. The level of drought-plagued Lake Lanier was at 1051.99 Tuesday morning, reflecting the smallest one-day decline in a long time. Most of the areas to the north of the lake, at the headwaters of the Chattahoochee River, which feeds Lanier, also got less than an inch of rain.
But, the assistant state climatologist, Pam Knox, says another round of showers is expected in north Georgia next week and that could actually lead to a slight increase in lake levels in north Georgia. (See separate story.)
The forecast calls for a 20 percent chance of rain Saturday night, with a 40 percent chance Sunday.
An analysis of federal data done by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution shows Lake Lanier, which supplies water to much of the Atlanta area, has about 108 days of stored water available.
And despite getting more rain than other parts of the state, Columbus maintained a rainfall deficit of 10 inches for the year. Rome is 22 inches below normal this year.
(AccessNorthGa.com's Ken Stanford contributed to this story.)
http://accesswdun.com/article/2007/11/204374