MMM # 111 --The drought is back!

     It has been three years since the Montgomery area was hit by severe drought conditions. We weren't alone in 2007...a lot of the Southeast was at the very least abnormally dry. Alabama's rainfall deficit was 25 inches! It was the story for many, many months.

      The Media was full of stories about planned new reservoirs, lawn watering restrictions, and plans for the future. Everywhere you turned there was video of boats in the mud and stranded docks.

     Then it ended in the Fall of 2009, and everyone, the media included, went back to the good old wet days.

     But now the drought is officially back.

     Rainfall is now11.6 inches below normal in Montgomery...by far the Alabama city with the largest rain deficit.

     Here's the state map from The U.S. Drought Monitor. The next update will be Thursday morning, but with about zero rain in the forecast there's not much hope for improvement.

     Of course this is not Alabama's first time to this particular dance. We always live with the threat of drought. In 2004 the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) developed a dought plan.

     One part called for an information center:

A Drought Information Center will be maintained with the most current information whenever one or more drought management regions of the state are in a watch, warning or emergency drought alert phase. Information about the status of drought conditions, impacts on the economy and other drought related concerns of the state will be collected and made available to state agencies, state officials, the news media, and other concerned interests.

     If ADECA did in fact create a "Drought Information Center" of some kind half a dozen years ago, I can't find it online anywhere.

     The problem with these cyclical events is that we Alabamians tend to forget all about them once they ease off. 

     NOAA's Drought Monitor, from which the map above was acquired, seems to be the closest thing, It does a great job of tracking the dry conditions in the state, but not much more.

    For the latest Montgomery area weather, go to CBS-8's weather page.

    There's also an interesting article about drought trends in Georgia and Alabama by a University of Georgia professor here. It appears to have been written in 2006.

     Fall begins this week, an October is a week away...usually the driest month of the year in Montgomery.

     The return  of the drought will also bring back news stories of lawn watering restrictions and plans for the future. Coming soon to a screen or front page near to you: the dry-docked boat. All to be forgotten the moment rainfall returns to normal.

[The Monday Morning Media Memo is a regular feature of this blog.]