Drought still affecting Alabama

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - It may be a new month, but there are still drought issues plaguing Alabama. While November delivered a good amount of rain to parts of the state, not everyone cashed in on the much-needed wet weather.

About half of the state saw normal to above normal rain in November; the other half was below normal. That exacerbated ongoing dry conditions for much of the state. Central Alabama actually saw improvement overall throughout the month of November. It wasn’t enough to get us out of the “abnormally dry” category in this week’s Drought Monitor update, but it helped.

Much of Central Alabama is abnormally dry. — Much of Central Alabama is abnormally dry.(WSFA 12 News)

The northern half and the far southern part of the state are where the drought conditions are at their worst. Moderate to severe drought exists for those areas, including Birmingham, Huntsville, Tuscaloosa, Gadsden, and Dothan.

Montgomery and many other towns and cities in Central Alabama are highlighted in the yellow color, which represents abnormally dry conditions. Places like Auburn, Opelika, Phenix City, Union Springs, Tuskegee, Eufaula, and Uniontown aren’t in any dry or drought category.

More than half of Alabama is in a drought as of November 29th. — More than half of Alabama is in a drought as of November 29th.(WSFA 12 News)

There may be some places in our part of the state that have seen improvement, but the amount of Alabama now experiencing drought conditions has increased from last week. More than 50% of the state is in a drought right now. Last week that number was just below 50%.

A month ago the number was down at 30%. Three months ago it was at 5%. It’s clear that over the last three months there has not been enough rain in our state. Some have been more fortunate than others, sure, but overall conditions have deteriorated since Labor Day.

Total rain will be very impressive to our north over the next 10 days. — Total rain will be very impressive to our north over the next 10 days.(WSFA 12 News)

Is there any meaningful rain on the way to help things out? That’s going to continue to be the big question until we can get out of the drought. The answer to that question right now is yes for some, no for others.

Northern Alabama will likely see plenty of rain over the next 10 days thanks to an unsettled pattern up there. The rest of the state from roughly I-20 south won’t see a whole lot of rain between now and December 12th. Some rain will fall, but the bulk of the wet weather will occur across northern Mississippi, northern Alabama, northern Georgia, and Tennessee.

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