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Jeanne leaves 3” of wet memories here

By J. FRANK LYNCH
jflynch@thecitizennews.com

The rainfall dumped by Hurricane Jeanne on Fayette County Monday was equal to the entire average monthly rainfall for October, officials at the National Weather Service in Peachtree City said.

From midnight Sunday to 8 a.m. Tuesday, the NWS measured 3.04 inches of rain at Peachtree City. Records show the average rainfall for October, the driest month of the year, is right at 3 inches, said meteorologist Matt Sena.

To put it in perspective, said Sena, three inches of rain would equal about 20 to 30 inches of snow.

“So this was a major rain event,” he said.

After direct hits by the remnants of hurricanes Frances and Ivan, the Atlanta metro area was hoping to miss the brunt of Jeanne, Sena said.

Even though the eye of the storm moved east of the metro area as expected, a single band of heavy rain that spun off on the western side of the tropical system parked itself in a narrow line stretching from LaGrange through Coweta and Fayette and all the way into Fulton, Sena said.

The counter-clockwise spin of the storm continued to feed the band of moisture all day, which resulted in nonstop heavy rainfall over our area on Monday.

Just a few miles to the east and west of Fayette County, rainfall totals were much less, Sena said.

Still, except for a few downed trees and scattered power outages, no serious problems were reported in Fayette on Monday. Schools remained open.

“Certainly it was nothing of the magnitude of Ivan or Frances,” said Pete Nelms of Fayette County Emergency Services.

Minor flash flooding was reported along the usual streams and creeks, but it was expected to subside by midday Tuesday.

The series of storms has gone a long way in easing Georgia’s drought this year, Sena said. This has been the second-rainiest September in Georgia history, with 13.65 inches measured as of Tuesday morning.

Normal September rainfall is just 3.72 inches.

“It’s been a busy month, but we’ve had about a week or so break between each of them so we get a little breather,” Sena said of his fellow weather forecasters in Peachtree City.

“And the weather between Ivan and Frances was beautiful.”

More beautiful weather can be expected this week, with a slight chance of showers Wednesday night and again on Saturday when a cold front moves through.

Otherwise, highs will be in the upper 70s through the weekend, with lows dropping into the 50s.

The first freeze of the season has traditionally been recorded in Fayette County around the first of November, Sena said.