Flood watch cancelled in Coweta County
By SARAH FAY CAMPBELL
sarah@newnan.com
There's another chance of rain forecast for Cowetans. But after Wednesday night, we might get a chance to dry out.
For a few days, at least.
As of 4 p.m. Tuesday, the creek level was 8.3 feet and rising. Flood stage is 10 feet. At 10 feet, there is minor flooding affecting agricultural and wooded areas in the flood plain, and a small utility access road near Ga. Hwy. 85.
A flood watch – which was originally in effect through Wednesday afternoon for all of central Georgia and a portion of north Georgia – has been cancelled by the National Weather Service. The Line Creek flood warning has also been cancelled.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the Chattahoochee River showed no signs of flooding at Whitesburg. The river crested Monday afternoon at 9.53 feet, and was reading 7.64 feet at 4:15 Tuesday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service's Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service. Flood stage is 15 feet.
But on Monday the river was filled with the detritus of metro-Atlanta.
"There was so much trash and stuff it was unbelievable," said Rayburn Gray, who lives on the river off Bob Brewster Road. "I saw a three-wheeler come by, floating upside down," he said. "There was so much stuff I could not believe what I was looking at."
The updated National Weather Service forecast for today calls for a 40 percent chance of rain during the day before turning clear and cold tonight. Winds will be 10 to 15 mph, with gusts of up to 25 mph possible.
The Weather Channel's weather.com website had a slightly different forecast, however. According to weather.com , there is just a 20 percent chance of rain today.
According to the National Weather Service, three-quarters to an inch of rain was expected to fall Tuesday night.
That's in addition to the roughly three inches of rain that was recorded in areas of Coweta through Tuesday morning.
So far in 2013, rainfall has been slightly above average. The National Weather Service recorded 4.9 inches of rain in January for Atlanta. The 30-year average is 4.2 inches.
Normal rainfall for February is 4.67 inches.
Despite the rain of the past several weeks, large swaths of Georgia, including Coweta, were still considered to be in drought as of last week.
The National Drought Monitor, using rainfall as of 7 a.m. Feb. 5, counted Coweta, as well as much of the western quarter of Georgia south of Atlanta, as being in "extreme drought."
An area in central Georgia is listed as being in exceptional drought, the most severe category.
The drought monitor will be updated on Thursday, using rainfall recorded as of 7 a.m. Tuesday.
The Newnan Times-Herald's weather station at the newspaper offices on Jefferson Street has recorded rainfall for February including: Feb. 2 - .07 inch, Feb. 7 - .30 inch, Feb. 8 - .01 inch, Feb. 10 - .87 inch, Feb. 11 - 1.28 inches, Feb. 12 - .47 inch and through 9 a.m. Wednesday - .03 inch. So far for February that is 3.02 inches, according to the weather page at www.times-herald.com .
