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11/30/2023
WT Staff
AFTER THE CLOSE THURSDAY
High fire risk in north and central GA continues
Upper Savannah watershed reaches extreme drought status
Thursday, November 30, 2023 - last updated 4:58 pm EST
NWS Special Weather Statement
issued 415 am WED NOV 29
High fire danger conditions apply for a third day in a row. Heavy rain forecast for tomorrow could bring flash flooding.
Low relative humidity continues Thursday : A Fire Danger Statement is in effect this afternoon and early evening across portions of western and central Georgia due to low relative humidity and drought conditions.
Impacting Baldwin-Banks-Barrow-Bartow-Bibb-Bleckley-Butts-Carroll-Catoosa-Chattahoochee-Chattooga-Cherokee-Clarke-Clayton-Cobb-Coweta-Crawford-Crisp-Dade-Dawson-DeKalb-Dodge-Dooly-Douglas-Emanuel-Fannin-Fayette-Floyd-Forsyth-Gilmer-Glascock-Gordon-Greene-Gwinnett-Hall-Hancock-Haralson-Harris-Heard-Henry-Houston-Jackson-Jasper-Jefferson-Johnson-Jones-Lamar-Laurens-Lumpkin-Macon-Madison-Marion-Meriwether-Monroe-Montgomery-Morgan-Murray-Muscogee-Newton-North Fulton-Oconee-Oglethorpe-Paulding-Peach-Pickens-Pike-Polk-Pulaski-Putnam-Rockdale-Schley-South Fulton-Spalding-Stewart-Sumter-Talbot-Taliaferro-Taylor-Telfair-Toombs-Towns-Treutlen-Troup-Twiggs-Union-Upson-Walker-Walton-Warren-Washington-Webster-Wheeler-White-Whitfield-Wilcox-Wilkes-Wilkinson Counties
For Friday:
Periods of heavy rainfall Friday through Monday morning could cause localized flash flooding and rises on rivers, creeks, and streams. In addition, isolated thunderstorms will be possible Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Streamflows situation from USGS Waterwatch
Ten streamflow gages are recording low values across north Georgia Thursday morning, including new today, Nottely River near Blairsville, Holly Creek at Chatsworth, Chestatee River near Dahlonega. Extreme low flows and drought are contributing to the high fire danger warnings issued by the National Weather Service this week. See the map for flow volume and depth details.
Below normal flow ratings began to show up in the Flint and Ocmulgee River watersheds yesterday with much below normal readings on Line Creek near Senoia and Flint River near Griffin today. St Mary's River along the Florida line is still recording 95th percentile high flows today. Watch here for updates, more to follow.
Drought situation from USGS Waterwatch 7-day average streamflow compared with historic flow
Atlantic basin's Upper Savannah River watershed escalated to extreme drought overnight from Rabun to north Hart County. The rating drops off to below normal status from Hart into Screven County, taking in a wider swath, this morning including Banks, Madison and Oglethorpe Counties.
On the Mississippi River - Gulf of Mexico side of the Georgia divide, the Upper Coosa River watershed remains with moderate hydrologic drought rating, joined by the Upper Chattahoochee River, now rated moderate hydrologic drought from the headwaters in Union County to Fulton and Cobb Counties. South along the Chattahoochee, below normal rating applies as previously into northwest Muscogee County, and picks up a below normal rating again at Clay County down to the Florida line.
Below normal ratings persist through the west portion of Tennessee River watershed Dade, Walker and Catoosa Counties, the balance of Coosa River watershed including Chatooga, Floyd, Polk and Haralson Counties with Cheerokee and Bartow Counties escalated to moderate drought. Tallapoosa River watershed is still rated below normal, including all of Carroll County.
New to the drought map today, Upper Ocmulgee River watershed is back on at below normal. Ochlockonee River watershed goes to below normal with the southwest Thomas County losing the moderate drought rating as of Thursday.
USGS seven-day average streamflows at each monitoring location are rated against the historic average flow volume for this date, determining the drought map for the day. The drought map shows areas rated below normal, moderate drought, severe drought and extreme drought.
Hazardous Spills files released from Georgia Department of Environmental Conservation
A spill incident report pertaining to the Coosa River watershed indicates a vehicle has been placed in a lake to facilitate SCUBA diving training, impacting state waters Woodring Branch and Lewis Branch with auto waste fluids earlier this month.
Two barrels of oil were spilled on a dock off Newcastle St in Brunswick during a failed transfer operation. Two gallons of oil product are reported impacting the East River, a tributary of the Satilla River in the southeast Atlantic basin. The report states that absorbent pads were used to recover the oil on the dock, the oil in the river was unrecoverable due to current.
Another spill report for the Coosa River watershed files, a spill of oil on the roadway Route 61 and Smyrna Ramhurst Rd south of Chatsworth left a slick 60 m long, according to a report released by EPD. The report says no soil or water was impacted.
See the Spills button to the right of the map for a list of spill incidents reported to EPD in Georgia this year.
HABs update from Georgia Department of Natural Resources - Coastal Resources Division Shellfish and Water Quality Unit
Two permanent beach advisories remain in effect on Jekyll Island including Jekyll Clam Creek Beach on the north end and St Andrews Beach on the south end. Lab tests on October 16 samples show the enterococcus bacteria levels below the health advisory threshold. Clam Creek Beach came in at 20 cfu per 100 ml and 7 cfu per 100 ml for St Andrews.
Public notification of the location of harmful algal blooms helps to protect pets, swimmers and waders from venturing into areas with known HABs and helps recreational water users find clear access points on state water bodies. Observations of HABs can be reported here by email, info@wtga.us for public notification on our map and through SMS alerts. The identity of the reporting party is not included in our notifications. Include a photo and location geo-tag so that the bloom can be accurately placed on the map and confirmed by local authorities.
USGS Provisional Data Statement
Data are provisional and subject to revision until they have been thoroughly reviewed and received final approval. Current condition data relayed by satellite or other telemetry are automatically screened to not display improbable values until they can be verified.
Provisional data may be inaccurate due to instrument malfunctions or physical changes at the measurement site. Subsequent review based on field inspections and measurements may result in significant revisions to the data.
Data users are cautioned to consider carefully the provisional nature of the information before using it for decisions that concern personal or public safety or the conduct of business that involves substantial monetary or operational consequences. Information concerning the accuracy and appropriate uses of these data or concerning other hydrologic data may be obtained from the USGS.
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