"Exceptional" Drought Status Spreads into Local Region

If you read my blog daily, you might remember that North Alabama achieved a distinction that it would like to lose last week. That region fell under the "Exceptional" Drought status, the highest drought category. Now, most of our viewing area in Tennessee and Georgia has been placed in that category. The Drought Outlook (Left Image), does not have any better news as the current drought conditions could persist locally.

Severe storms struck locally on Thursday and produced large hail and wind damage. Here is a list of storm reports from Thursday from the Storm Prediction Center:

Hail Reports:

Etowah, TN: Quarter Size Hail
Sweetwater, TN: Quarter Size Hail (Accumulated 3 Inches on the ground, Fog resulted from melting)

Wind Damage:

Benton, TN: Trees and Power Lines Down
Grandview, TN (Rhea County): Trees Down