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7/24/2024
WT Staff
 HAPPENING NOW
Wednesday, July 24 2024
Thunderstorms may bring flash flooding in central and north Georgia
July 24, 2024 updated 1137 am EDT
Hazardous Weather Outlook issued 501 am July 24 by NWS Peachtree City
Scattered to numerous thunderstorms are expected this afternoon and evening with the greatest coverage across central Georgia. The
strongest storms may produce frequent cloud-to-ground lightning, gusty winds, and heavy rainfall. Localized flash flooding is possible, especially across central Georgia and portions of north
Georgia.
Scattered to numerous thunderstorms, mainly in the afternoon and evening, can be expected each day through Monday. Severe weather is not anticipated, but localized flash flooding may occur.
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.
WT HAB Tracker from state sources and where available, the satellite monitoring program of the NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science
Georgia: Jekyll Island's beaches have tested clear for bacteria in the latest update from Coastal Health Region. Two beaches under permanent advisory for high bacteria came through the quarterly water test with 0 bacteria colony forming units count. The Georgia Healthy Beaches program of Coastal Public Health tests beaches, posting permanent and temporary advisories to warn the public. No new information has been found on the presence of HABs in Georgia since our last update. Georgia Environmental Protection Division takes reports on suspicious algal blooms, we are checking with the EPD for updates, more to follow. The latest Georgia beach advisories are available here.
Ohio: The latest image of Lake Erie west basin was captured July 23 at surface wind speed 5.7 mph. The image is mostly cloud obscured, showing a 7 x 7 nm block of the HAB at around 600 thousand cells per 100 ml concentration from the west shoreline near Monroe Michigan. A break in the clouds to the south gives a glimpse of North Maumee Bay, the HAB concentration there being 1 million cells, plus. Sandusky Bay HAB is not visible in this image, nor is the HAB that has developed outside Sandusky Bay seen in the July 20 image encroaching in the area near Sandusky City main water intake. So far Sandusky City has managed to avoid the bloom inside the bay, using the main raw water intake located approximately 1.5 nm northeast in Lake Erie. Algal toxin testing has so far produced below MRL (minimum reporting level) results, the new bi-weekly test values will be available this week. Ohio EPA spokesperson Dina Pierce tells WTOH that Ohio drinking water facilities are diligent around HAB testing to ensure public safety. In addition to the bi-weekly toxin testing and HAB gene sampling, Sandusky City "has instruments that monitor real-time water quality at the main intake. This allows them to make changes in their treatment if they see indication of a developing or increasing HAB." Ohio EPA had much more to say on how Ohio drinking water facilities monitor surface water sources for HAB toxins. See the latest Ohio HAB report, available here.
New York
The latest upload of Lake Champlain was captured July 22, wind speed unknown. The northeast Baie Missisquoi HAB still fills the bay with a high concentration bloom 900 thousand cells per 100 ml around the west edge spiking up to 2 million cells per 100 ml at the center, the hot spot being the east half of the bloom mass. The top concentration in this image is half what it was on the weekend. According to the National Institutes for Health, this part of Lake Champlain is classified eutrophic, defined as "a lake or other body of water rich in nutrients and so supporting a dense plant population, the decomposition of which kills animal life by depriving it of oxygen". Eutrophic lakes often support accelerated growth of cyanobacteria, microcystis is the common form in this lake. Inquiries have gone out to the environmental health departments conducting the water testing for Baie Missisquoi in Canada and Vermont, more to follow.
From the NYS DEC HABs reporting center, sixty-six active reports light the dashboard Wednesday morning, down from seventy-one cases last night. Reports made prior to July 10 have been archived overnight. See bluegreen tags on the map to the right, the full list of water bodies impacted is found here.
Louisiana: The latest upload from the NCCOS was caught July 23 at surface wind speed 1.7 mph. This image is once again mostly cloud obscured with a view of Black Bay and Chandeleur Sound HABs, widespread at concentrations ranging from 200 to 600 thousand cells per 100 ml. In the previous image, also cloud obscured, we could identify Lac des Allemands and Bayou Fortier HABs at moderate concentration. The latest HAB report for Louisiana is here.
California: The latest HAB report from California Water Boards contains one HAB DANGER alert and three HAB WARNING postings on the list. The DANGER advisory applies to San Antonio Lake in Monterey County; the HAB WARNINGS include the south end of Pyramid Lake near the dam, Santee Lake #7 near the campground and a pond in Heritage Park, San Diego County. DANGER and WARNING advisory signage carry the caption "Toxins from the algae in this water can harm humans and kill animals".
HAB DANGER and WARNING advisories are marked with bluegreen tags on the map, these and the "Caution" level and algal mat general awareness advisories are listed in the California HAB Tracker report, here.
See the North American drainage basin map here, scroll all the way down to see how surface water moves across the continent into the Pacific, Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Arctic Oceans. WT Media Group tells the story of water in three countries, Canada, USA and Mexico. See the drinking water advisories, hazardous spills, floods, drought and harmful algal blooms plotted on the maps, as the water flows. Check out the CrimeBox for historic prosecutions under the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act box for details on public drinking water facilities, interviews with the scientists and tech developers on the leading edge of clean water technology here.
As many drinking water facilities are supplied from surface water reservoirs, the streamflow situation is pertinent to both drinking water supply and quality. High flows can stir up sediment and cause turbidity in the reservoirs, requiring additional treatments to render the water potable. Low flow volume is linked to warmer temperatures in the reservoir and can be an issue for water quality where HABs are present. WT tracks streamflow trends with an eye to the impacts on drinking water supply and quality in each of the state's watersheds. Check the watershed layer on the map to see the direction of flow and streamflows that may be impacting drinking water today.
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.
Harmful Algal Blooms: WT follows the movement and growth of harmful algal blooms (HABs) as provided by the satellite monitoring program of the NCCOS for New York's Lake Champlain, Ohio's Lake Erie and Louisiana's Lake Pontchartrain and surrounding area. Interpretation of satellite images is best in clear conditions at wind speed less than 4 mph, where the appearance and extent of HABs is reliably matched to a color scale for concentration. HABs are known to produce algal toxins of concern for raw drinking water sources and recreational water bodies. Plan beach access to avoid HABs and consider carrying a rapid test kit to detect the toxin microcystins.
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