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The Alabama Drought Assessment and Planning Team’s Monitoring and Impact Group overviewed this year’s hydrological data during their Dec. 11 meeting.
ADAPT is a committee of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs tasked with providing recommendations on drought related matters to the governor and the ADECA Office of Water Resources, as well as coordinating intra-governmental drought response measures. MIG is the subcommittee of ADAPT responsible for monitoring climate, as well as hydrological data and forecasts.
ADECA Environmental Engineering Specialist, Michael Harper, opened the meeting by overviewing recent precipitation data beginning in October. Precipitation monitoring stations in Huntsville, Birmingham, Montgomery and Mobile all reported below average rainfall levels, with Harper saying some saw as little as four inches or less during the month.
Harper reported that November saw deficits only in Huntsville and Montgomery. Explaining November’s precipitation data, Harper said, “It still had deficits showing up in Huntsville and Montgomery but not to the level we had previous months. So, while November did get us a good bit of rainfall, we’re still running behind in several locations.”
Overviewing the U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Harper said drought conditions were persisting in the areas of the state that have seen them throughout 2024. Each area of the state was reported as abnormally dry, while north and southwest Alabama faced severe or extreme drought levels.
Harper outlined the proposed draft of ADECA’s Alabama Drought Declaration, which ranks the severity of dry conditions in the state’s nine drought regions on a scale ranging from no drought, drought advisory, drought watch, drought warning and drought emergency.
Each region in the state remained at a drought watch, showing no changes from October’s declaration.
“We’re getting some rain, but we’re not getting enough to start getting us out of the drought,” Harper said.
Harper reported that Dallas, Perry and Wilcox counties were named primary natural disaster areas by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, making farmers within them eligible for federal drought relief.
Total 2024 precipitation levels for the state reported were close to average at all four monitoring stations, Harper reported. However, Harper clarified that, while accumulated precipitation was close to average, drought conditions have persisted due to 2024’s abnormally dry summer months.
Birmingham and Mobile showed the largest deficits in yearly rainfall, with levels at 12 and 10 inches below average, respectively. Montgomery’s precipitation came in at five inches below average, and Huntsville’s at less than an inch above.
Harper reported that, as of the beginning of the water year on Oct. 1, the state was already “a month behind” in regard to precipitation.
“We’re starting the water year off way behind, which is not good news,” Harper said.
Harper highlighted that, for December, the National Weather Service’s seasonal outlook showed Alabama trending toward above average temperatures and below average precipitation.
Harper also reported on the state’s drought monitoring wells, saying that although ground water levels were improving only three monitoring sites showed levels at or above the 50th percentile.
Harper announced that the latest edition of the Alabama Drought Management Plan was released Nov. 18. This plan is required to be updated at least every five years, or whenever is necessitated by changing drought conditions.
State Climatologist Lee Ellenburg outlined Office of the State Climatologist Lawn and Garden Index data that showed average to moist soil moisture levels in lawns and gardens across the state, as compared to October when they were almost universally abnormally dry.
“The soil moisture has a pretty short memory in Alabama, and so any precipitation we have over the last couple weeks, with a low sun angle, low temperatures, that moisture’s gonna stick around,” Lee said.
Lee reported, however, that crop moisture data showed soil was still abnormally dry in each drought monitoring zone, saying farmers are still feeling the effects of the months long dry spells.
“You have a very dry October, very dry August, very dry June—these things start to add up, and so we really need the winter rains to pick up and get us back into normal so we can start seeing those recharge rates,” Lee said.
Assistant director for the Alabama Forestry Commission’s protection division, Balsie Butler, reported that wildland fire potential was above average for the state in December. Butler also described fire data for Oct. 10 – Nov. 10, during which no fires above 100 acres were reported.
Overall, Butler said a total of 32,817 acres of land were burned by fires in 2024, compared to 21,971 in 2023.
