So, has is actually rained there today? (Atlanta, Decatur: house, contractor)

[lmcbug9]

I was just wondering, for all you people on here that actually live in Atlanta, did it actually rain today? I am hoping to move there soon, I have a lawsuit pending against my contractor, so I have to finish that first, but I am concerned for all the residents and the water situation. I know it was in the weather forcast, so I am just curious. Thanks in advance.

[BobKovacs]

We had a sprinkle for about 5 minutes at around 6pm, but nothing since. The forecast has been revised from rain all through the night and into tomorrow afternoon- as of 6 tonight, the news was calling for it to be partly sunny by 9am.

[lmcbug9]

If I could give you guys my water, I would jump all over it!! My contractor built my house into an underground creek, and it flooded non stop for about 4 months! roughly 7 million gallons of water later, I love the idea of a place that will likely not flood, but I'm not to happy about it being due to a drought. I'm hoping it turns around soon.

[OhioNative]

It's pouring right now at 8 AM on thurs.

[BobKovacs]

Originally Posted by OhioNative

It's pouring right now at 8 AM on thurs.

You must be south of us (we're in Canton)- it poured pretty good from around 4:30 to 7, and then it stopped. We're actually seeing some breaks in the clouds up here now.

[Britishintown]

Are the lakes getting any higher though, somehow I doubt it.

[BobKovacs]

Originally Posted by Britishintown

Are the lakes getting any higher though, somehow I doubt it.

From what I understand, 1" of rain in the watershed that feeds the lake increases the lake's elevation by +/- 1 foot, so there should be some impact on the lake's height. Of course, what we really need is a storm like this morning's every morning, or one that lasts for around 48 hours straight to really have a dramatic impact on the drought issue.

[Britishintown]

The biggest problem is that when this problem is over, people will forget it and nothing will be done to avoid it again in the future.

[IntownHomes247]

We got 2/10ths of an inch in Decatur.

Here are a couple of interesting articles:

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/alr/drought/LanierCWW.pdf (broken link)
(.pdf file)

Climate Change and Environment Blog from The Weather Channel - Forecast Earth (broken link)

Here's a quote from the Weather Channel blog (link above):

So, what will it take to re-fill Lake Lanier and save Atlanta? Hydrologists at the National Weather Service Southeast River Forecast Center made some calculations. The watershed is so dry that an initial rain of 2 inches or less would have little impact, with most of the rain absorbed in the dry soil. They found that a 4-inch rain in 24 hours would raise the lake level by 1.4 feet over 5 days and leave the ground saturated. Thus, what is needed is a heavy initial rainstorm, followed by a series of rains at 3-4 day intervals with a cumulative rainfall of more than a foot.

[KevK]

Here in Lithia Springs/Austell we got a good soaking rain this morning. And the FACT is that we are just now entering the time of year when we do get most of our rainfall here. Most of it falls in the winter between Nov and March. It rarely rains in the summer here anyway.