Weekend storm brings fire relief, cleaner air to South Georgia

Although a weekend storm system brought some tumultuous weather to South Georgia, it also brought some much needed relief from wildfires. 

South Georgians came through the weekend with few power outages, no reported injuries and far cleaner air to breath.

On Friday, Albany and the surrounding areas faced a more than 200 on the air quality scale, which means the air is very unhealthy to breathe. An air quality level that high means everyone should try to avoid long, intense activities outdoors and move activities indoors when possible.

South Georgia has been experiencing drought conditions the past few weeks resulting in wildfires and controlled burns causing a lot of smoke in the air.

“With the drought conditions ongoing and with it being as dry as it is, it doesn’t take much to get a fire going in those areas, and then furthermore, the winds are very light today,” said Meteorologist Sid King with the National Weather Service on Friday. “So the smoke is just kind of settling and not really spreading.”

Despite the relief from the rain this weekend, drought conditions are expected to persist in South Georgia, and soil moisture conditions remain extremely low for this time of year, according to the National Integrated Drought Information System.

The end of winter to the early spring is typically the time of year for controlled burns by the U.S. Forestry Service and local farmers, but permits are typically only given if the weather conditions are acceptable.