000 FGUS72 KTAE 260051 ESFTAE ALC031-045-061-067-069-FLC005-013-029-037-039-045-059-063-065-067- 073-077-079-123-129-131-133-GAC007-017-019-027-037-061-071-075-087- 095-099-131-155-173-177-185-201-205-239-243-253-273-275-277-287- 321-050000- DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL 845 PM EDT WED JUL 25 2007 ...DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT FOR SOUTHEAST ALABAMA...SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL GEORGIA...THE FLORIDA BIG BEND AND FLORIDA PANHANDLE... ...EXTREME DROUGHT CONDITIONS PERSIST ACROSS SOUTHWEST GEORGIA... ...MODERATE TO SEVERE DROUGHT CONDITIONS CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE REMAINDER OF THE REGION... SYNOPSIS... SCATTERED MAINLY DIURNAL SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS BROUGHT SLIGHT DROUGHT RELIEF TO SOME AREAS DURING THE PAST FEW WEEKS. RAINFALL AMOUNTS GENERALLY AVERAGED BETWEEN 0.25 AND 1.25 INCHES. HOWEVER...SOME AREAS BENEFITED FROM 2 TO 4 INCHES. DESPITE THE RAINFALL...2007 DEFICITS FROM NORMAL VALUES RANGED FROM 8 TO 20 INCHES. THE FOLLOWING TABLE SHOWS THE OBSERVED RAINFALL...30-YEAR NORMALS ...DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL...AND PERCENT OF NORMAL FROM JANUARY 1 THROUGH JULY 24 FOR SELECTED SITES ACROSS THE REGION. SEASONAL STATISTICS ARE PROVIDED FOR THE PERIOD JUNE 1 THROUGH JULY 24. STATION OBSERVED 30-YEAR DEPARTURE PERCENT RAINFALL NORMAL FROM NORMAL OF NORMAL TALLAHASSEE FL SINCE JANUARY 1 17.60 38.16 -20.56 46 SINCE JUNE 1 7.51 13.16 -5.65 57 APALACHICOLA FL SINCE JANUARY 1 15.55 29.09 -13.54 53 SINCE JUNE 1 3.87 9.89 -6.03 39 PANAMA CITY FL SINCE JANUARY 1 17.98 37.04 -19.06 49 SINCE JUNE 1 4.90 12.78 -7.88 38 CHIPLEY FL SINCE JANUARY 1 17.85 35.73 -17.88 50 SINCE JUNE 1 7.97 10.67 -2.97 75 CROSS CITY FL SINCE JANUARY 1 15.64 31.90 -16.26 49 SINCE JUNE 1 10.07 13.29 -3.22 76 GENEVA AL SINCE JANUARY 1 28.73 36.55 -7.82 79 SINCE JUNE 1 9.85 9.64 0.21 102 CAMILLA GA SINCE JANUARY 1 18.22 33.95 -15.73 54 SINCE JUNE 1 6.51 9.59 -3.08 68 ALBANY GA SINCE JANUARY 1 19.83 33.88 -14.05 59 SINCE JUNE 1 7.45 9.87 -2.42 75 HYDROLOGIC IMPACTS... WELL BELOW NORMAL STREAM FLOWS CONTINUED OVER SOUTHWEST GEORGIA...WITH BELOW NORMAL FLOWS THROUGH MUCH OF SOUTH CENTRAL GEORGIA. THE FLINT RIVER AT BAINBRIDGE AND ALBANY GEORGIA SET RECORD LOWS FOR THE MONTH OF JULY...WITH FLOWS BELOW THE 10TH PERCENTILE. STREAM FLOWS ACROSS SOUTHEAST ALABAMA AND THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE HAVE INCREASED SLIGHTLY DUE TO SPOTTY HEAVY RAINS...HOWEVER A NUMBER OF MONITORED SITES REMAIN BELOW THE 10TH PERCENTILE. THE OCHLOCKONEE RIVER NEAR HAVANA...CHIPOLA RIVER NEAR ALTHA...TELOGIA CREEK NEAR BRISTOL...AND THE LITTLE RIVER NEAR MIDWAY SET RECORD LOW FLOWS. THE APALACHICOLA AND ST MARKS RIVERS AND OTHER STREAMS WITH LARGE WATERSHEDS OR SIGNIFICANT GROUND WATER CONTRIBUTIONS ARE FLOWING AT HIGHER LEVELS. ACROSS THE FLORIDA BIG BEND AND SUWANNEE RIVER BASIN...FLOWS CONTINUED AT BELOW TO WELL BELOW NORMAL LEVELS. GROUND WATER CONDITIONS... CALCULATED SOIL MOISTURE ANOMALIES FOR THE PAST TWO WEEKS INDICATED THREE TO FOUR INCH DEFICITS REGIONWIDE. GROUND WATER LEVELS CONTINUED A DOWNWARD TREND ACROSS MUCH OF NORTHWEST FLORIDA. LOCAL RAINFALL HAD STABILIZED OR INCREASED AQUIFER LEVELS SLIGHTLY IN SOME AREAS. WATER LEVELS FOR THE FLORIDAN AQUIFER REMAINED AT OR NEAR RECORD LOW LEVELS. ACROSS MUCH OF SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL GEORGIA...GROUND WATER LEVELS WERE LOW. MOST MONITORING WELLS ARE APPROACHING THEIR AVERAGE ANNUAL MINIMUM WATER LEVELS...WHICH NORMALLY OCCUR IN THE LATE SUMMER OR EARLY FALL. FIRE DANGER IMPACTS... KEETCH-BYRAM DROUGHT INDICES (KBDI)/FIRE DANGER RANGED FROM 450 TO 650/MODERATE TO HIGH THROUGHOUT THE REGION. AGRICULTURAL IMPACTS... FLORIDA PANHANDLE AND BIG BEND...TOPSOIL CONDITIONS WERE GENERALLY ADEQUATE...WITH SHORT TO ADEQUATE SUBSOIL MOISTURE. DAILY RAINS WERE STILL NEEDED TO HELP AID THE GROWTH OF COTTON AND PEANUTS. LIVESTOCK CONDITIONS WERE FAIR TO GOOD. ACROSS THE PANHANDLE...RAINFALL IMPROVED PASTURES AND HAY FIELDS. OVER THE BIG BEND...PASTURE WAS MOSTLY FAIR WITH GRASS GROWTH STUNTED BY DROUGHT. SOUTHERN GEORGIA...SOIL MOISTURE OVERALL WAS RATED SHORT...WITH AREAS OF ADEQUATE MOISTURE. SOME PASTURES AND HAYFIELDS IMPROVED DURING THE PAST FEW WEEKS IN RESPONSE TO THE RAINFALL. FARMERS REPORTED A NEED FOR CONTINUED RAINFALL AS HOT TEMPERATURES HAVE STRESSED CROPS QUICKLY DUE TO INSUFFICIENT SUBSOIL MOISTURE. SOUTHERN ALABAMA...SOIL MOISTURE OVERALL WAS RATED SHORT...WITH AREAS OF ADEQUATE MOISTURE FROM RAINFALL WHICH HELPED RELIEVE SOME OF THE SHORT-TERM WATER STRESS ON CROPS AND PASTURE. SLIGHT IMPROVEMENTS WERE NOTICED IN LIVESTOCK CONDITIONS AS PASTURES CONTINUED TO SLOWLY GREEN UP. SOCIETAL IMPACTS... A PHASE ONE WATER SHORTAGE ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT BY THE SUWANNEE RIVER WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT...WITH VOLUNTARY WATER CONSERVATION ACTIONS REQUESTED. THERE ARE NO WATER RESTRICTIONS IN EFFECT. A WATER SHORTAGE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT BY THE NORTHWEST FLORIDA WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT FOR RESIDENTS OF THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE AND WESTERN FLORIDA BIG BEND. THESE RESIDENTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REDUCE WATER USE AND CONSERVE WATER TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT POSSIBLE. THUS FAR...NO WATER RESTRICTIONS HAVE BEEN ENFORCED. THE DISTRICT WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR WATER RESOURCES AND WILL WORK WITH WATER UTILITY COMPANIES AND OTHER USERS TO IMPLEMENT CONSERVATION MEASURES. A STATEWIDE LEVEL-2 OUTDOOR WATER-USE SCHEDULE REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR GEORGIA. OUTLOOK... THE LATEST 6-10 DAY OUTLOOK ISSUED JULY 25 BY THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER FOR THE PERIOD JULY 31-AUGUST 4 CALLS FOR BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL. THE 8-14 DAY OUTLOOK ISSUED JULY 25 FOR THE PERIOD AUGUST 2-6 CALLS FOR SIMILAR CONDITIONS. THE MONTHLY OUTLOOK ISSUED JULY 19 FOR AUGUST PREDICTS ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND NEAR NORMAL RAINFALL. FINALLY...THE THREE-MONTH OUTLOOK ISSUED JULY 19 FOR AUGUST-OCTOBER CALLS FOR ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND RAINFALL. DESPITE THE SEASONAL OUTLOOK INDICATING IMPROVEMENT FOR THE DROUGHT-STRICKEN AREAS OF THE SOUTHEAST... COMPLETE ELIMINATION OF THE DROUGHT IS UNLIKELY AS RAINFALL DEFICITS ACCUMULATED SINCE THE FIRST OF THE YEAR HAVE EXCEEDED A FOOT AT MANY LOCATIONS THROUGHOUT THE REGION. CURRENT EL NINO/SOUTHERN OSCILLATION (ENSO) CONDITIONS REMAIN AT NEUTRAL LEVELS. GIVEN THE LARGE SPREAD IN ENSO PREDICTIONS...ALONG WITH THE SLOWER THAN EXPECTED DECREASE IN OBSERVED SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURES DURING THE PAST FEW MONTHS...IT IS REASONABLE TO EXPECT EITHER A SLOWER EVOLUTION TOWARD LA NINA OR A CONTINUATION OF ENSO-NEUTRAL CONDITIONS. NOTE THAT DURING PAST LA NINA YEARS...THERE HAS BEEN A NOTICEABLE INCREASE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF TROPICAL SYSTEMS ACROSS THE WESTERN ATLANTIC...CARRIBEAN SEA...AND GULF OF MEXICO. THESE CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE TO BE CLOSELY MONITORED. CREDITS... INFORMATION FOR THIS REPORT WAS PROVIDED COURTESY OF THE WEEKLY DROUGHT MONITOR REPORT...UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE...WEEKLY WEATHER AND CROP BULLETIN...UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE...DEPARTMENTS OF FORESTRY FOR ALABAMA...FLORIDA AND GEORGIA...THE NATIONAL DROUGHT MITIGATION CENTER...CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER...NORTHWEST FLORIDA WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT...THE UNITED STATES GEOLOGIC SURVEY AND THE NATIONAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE. $$ JAMSKI