Drought Watch Continues

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Although we did get a bit of rain over the last week, it hardly moved the needle with respect to the drought index across Coastal GA and SC Lowcountry, according to the USDM data …

Precipitation report showing rainfall data and soil moisture levels.
Enki Research station data, drought monitor table from the U.S. Drought Monitor, which is jointly produced by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the United States Department of Agriculture, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Here in midtown Savannah, at least the upper soil moisture rocketed back up to adequate levels for most plants with shallow roots (sensor is at 6″ deep), but it’s creeping back down to the wilting point and will drop below that over the weekend as temperatures head back up into the 80’s. Speaking of which, take a look at the temperature roller coaster over the last few days … 70’s last Friday, 90’s (and a heat index that touched 100) on Monday, barely 70’s on Tuesday, and probably only upper 70s maybe 80 today!

Line graph showing Parkside temperature data from May 10 to May 15, 2026, with temperature readings in Fahrenheit. The graph includes air temperature (black line), heat index (red line), wind chill (green line), and soil temperature (green bars), with 32°F marked as freezing and 90°F as a notable high.

Afraid there isn’t much hope over the next few days for another round of rain. Here’s the GFS (left) and ECM (right) model Five forecast rain totals. Let me know what you think of this type of map, and if you would like to see these generated automagically every day (out to 7 days).

Map showing the five-day rain forecast for the southeastern United States, indicating varying levels of precipitation in inches, with color gradients representing rainfall intensity.
Map showing the five-day rain forecast for the southeastern United States, with color-coded precipitation levels indicating areas of varying rainfall amounts.

North Atlantic hurricane season is approaching, so I’m working on a hurricane season preview. The Profits of Doom are worried it might be a quiet season, but even quiet years can cough up a strong storm or two. What’s the strongest storm to hit the sacred precincts of Frogmore, and its less blessed suburbs of Savannah, Beaufort, etc? Stay tuned for a post on that subject …

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1 Comment

  1. Enki, All of the doomsayers are painting EL Nino ( the “strongest ever”) as a giant weather villain. What is the true story for us in the Southeast? I am hoping he stomps on Atlantic hurricanes. Will it increase the chance of 2027 snow? Questions….

    BTW, my Dad remembered a hurricane here in the 1940s. He saw a roof go bouncing down the street! I was a kid when David hit in 1979; was that ever a hot two weeks! However, I am guessing the worst Savannah has seen were the storms in the 1890s. Do I win something? Ha..

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