Southeast Drought Improving

The record drought that has given the Southeast U.S. its driest conditions in at least a century, and possibly as long as 800 years in some places, is showing signs of relenting.

"At least 2 inches of rain fell from northern Louisiana into much of Georgia and northern Florida, bringing another round of reductions in the coverage and intensity of abnormal dryness and moderate to exceptional drought," the U.S. Drought Monitor reported Thursday, in its weekly assessment of drought conditions across the country.

"Rainfall was particularly heavy across southern Georgia and northern Florida, where a few locations received in excess of 10 inches. As a result, a gap widened between drought areas of Florida and the remainder of the Southeast," the report states. "In fact, improvements were fairly widespread across the Southeast, except along the northern fringe of the drought area."

U.S. drought conditions, as of February 26, 2008. U.S. Drought Monitor

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