Lanier up 6 inches; more rain in Dec. in Gainesville than any month since July

UNDATED - Gainesville got another 1.10 inches of rain Sunday to go with 1.5 inches Saturday bringing the December total to 4.90 inches, the most for one month since July when 5.21 inches were record.

It rained in Gainesville on 9 of the 12 days between Dec. 19 and Dec. 30.

Meanwhile, enough rain fell in Atlanta Sunday to keep it from setting an all-time low for rain in one year. The most arid year ever recorded for Atlanta was 1954, when only 31.80 inches of rain fell.

Meteorologists had said it appeared that this year would have even less rain than that, saying rain falling Sunday morning would taper off and quit. However, showers continued long enough to raise the 2007 cumulative rainfall to 31.85 inches.

"It stays intact," said Mike Leary, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, of the 1954 record.

More than one-third of the Southeast is in an "exceptional" drought - the worst drought category. The Atlanta area, with a population of 5 million, is smack in the middle of the affected region, which includes most of Tennessee, Alabama, North and South Carolina, as well as parts of Kentucky and Virginia.

There had been hope that Atlanta would escape a record book entry this year, as a parade of rainstorms began the week before Christmas. Atlanta got rain on 10 out of the last 12 days.

On Saturday morning, the 2007 cumulative rainfall total hit about 30.5 inches, and an overnight soaking was on the way, fed by moisture from the Gulf of Mexico.

On Sunday morning, the weather service said it didn't look like enough would fall during the day to match the 1954 level, seeming to guarantee a new record. But by 6:45 p.m. Sunday, more than 1.25 inches had accumulated for the day.

Rainfall is measured at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Rain has also been unusually sparse in other Georgia cities this year, including Athens, Columbia and Macon. However, each of those cities has seen worse years than 2007, Konarik said.

Athens got 0.92 of an inch by mid-afternoon Sunday, Columbus got 1.12 inches, Augusta got 2 inches and Macon more than 2.5 inches, Leary said. Gainesville had recorded 0.96 of an inch by mid-afternoon. The city picked up 1.50 inches Saturday as the rainly spell that began Dec. 18 continued.

The latest rain had only a small effect on Lake Lanier, where the receding water is exposing roads and the foundations of buildings submerged since the reservoir was created in the 1950s.

The water level in the reservoir stood at an all-time low of 1,050.79 on Wednesday, but by 6:00 Monday it was at 1051.25, a six inch rise since Friday morning. And, its likely to increase even more over the next few days.

"(A lot of) what's falling now won't show up until tomorrow or the next day," said Rob Holland, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which operates the reservoir. That's when some of the runoff from north of the lake pours into Lanier, mainly by way of the Chattahoochee and Chestatee rivers.

"Anything that stops the level from falling is a good thing," he added. "But we'd like to get a whole lot more."

(The Associated Press contributed to this report).