A state climatologist says this summer has been the driest in the Augusta area in more than 10 years, and if conditions don't improve in the next two months drought conditions could return.
"If the tropics remain dry, then I think there is a potential we may go back into drought conditions," said Pam Knox, Georgia's assistant state climatologist.
An El Nino weather pattern has reduced the number of tropical storms or hurricanes this summer, Ms. Knox said. Fall is typically the driest time of the year in Augusta, and without tropical activity the problem gets worse, she said.
But even if the area doesn't get good rainfall in the next two months, Ms. Knox said, people shouldn't expect a return to the bad droughts seen in the past few years.
"If anything we could see no more than moderate (drought)," she said.
For June, July and August, the area received 9.33 inches of rainfall, Ms. Knox said. That's the least since 1998, she said.
Last summer's rainfall total was 10.65 inches, and the driest summer on record for Augusta, with 6.51 inches of rainfall, occurred in 1946.
On Thursday, the U.S. Drought Monitor released its latest report, showing parts of the Augusta area in an abnormally dry state, which is just one step away from the moderate drought level.
In South Carolina, 22 counties were categorized Wednesday as being in incipient drought status. Among them were Edgefield and McCormick.
Aiken County wasn't included, but state climatologist Hope Mizzell said it is on the fringe of a drought.
She said Aiken County will need at least normal rainfall in the next 30 days to stay out of drought status.
Normal rainfall for the area in September is 4.10 inches, she said. For October, it's 2.77 inches.
Ms. Knox said poor rainfall this summer hasn't caused drought problems yet because of good rain earlier this year.
"Spring was very beneficial, and that is really saving us now because we've got that reserve of moisture," she said.
Reach Preston Sparks at (803) 648-1395, ext. 110, or preston.sparks@augustachronicle.com.
TRIPLE-DIGIT DAYS
Just as there was a lack of rainfall this summer, there also were fewer days when the high reached 100 or greater. Al Moore, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in West Columbia, S.C., says the 100 mark was reached on just two days this summer, June 27 and July 1. Last summer, the Augusta area had five days with temperatures of 100 or higher. In the summer of 2007, the area had 15 such days, all in August, Mr. Moore said.
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