The area of the state considered in drought conditions has been slowly creeping northward and now covers all of Gwinnett, Barrow, Jackson, Banks and Clarke counties. Also the southern half of Hall County and a part of south Forsyth. It had already made it to Stephens, Elbert, Hart and Franklin counties.
The U.S. Drought Monitor says conditions in northeast Georgia are classified as "abnormally dry" and these conditions extend westward through metro Atlanta and to the Alabama line in the Carrollton area.
It has been 21 days since some places in north Georgia have recorded any measurable rain, including Gainesville but that could come to a noisy end today. The forecast calls for thunderstorms, some of them severe, with a chance of hail. (See separate story.)
http://accesswdun.com/article/2011/5/238995