USGS1989
A severe drought in the Southeastern United States during 1986 resulted in the lowest flows of record for many streams. Minimum flows in many streams occurred in mid-summer, several months earlier in the year than the minimums that occurred during notable regional droughts of 1954 and 1981. Streamflow data for 370 continuous-record gaging stations in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, eastern Tennessee, and southern Virginia were analyzed to determine the severity and areal extent of this drought. Minimum average streamflows for periods of 1, 7, 30, 60, and 90 consecutive days were evaluated to estimate the frequency of recurrence of the 1986 drought and generalized areas of similar recurrence intervals were delineated for the 7-day and 30-day minimum average flows. Flows in parts of Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee receded to rates estimated to occur on the average of once in 50 to 100 years. A much larger area that extended from central Alabama to central North Carolina experienced flows with estimated recurrence intervals of 20 to 50 years. In addition to the continuous-record station data, discharge measurements and observations of zero flow were made at 694 non-recording stream sites in Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and eastern Tennessee during the 1986 drought. These measurements were used in conjunction with the continuous-record station flow data to estimate minimum 1986 drought flows at the non-recording sites.
Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, ↗