, North Carolina, October 2007 shows the low water level of
Lake Wylie, South Carolina in August 2007 The drought was set in motion by the weather phenomenon
La Niña, which developed in 2005. La Niña caused dry weather across much of the Southeast, causing a dry winter from late 2005 to early 2006. On top of that, the
Bermuda High, also known as the Azores High, a hot and dry air mass over the
Atlantic, formed unusually far west, and blocked storms from entering the region, a pattern that wouldn't break until 2008. The dryness continued into 2006; however, this dryness was mild in comparison to 2007 and did not have a massive impact. 2007 was very dry across the Southeast, which received record-low rainfall during the year.
Mississippi and
Georgia, which usually have very wet spring seasons, each had their driest spring on record. In May 2007, the
Bugaboo Fire burned near the
Okefenokee Swamp along the border between Georgia and
Florida, exacerbated by the drought conditions. Summer 2007 brought a
major heat wave and record-breaking wildfires across the region. The heatwave was partly caused by the drought because the dryness lowered the
dew point, which raised the temperature of the air. and on July 31, the
USDA declared almost every county in Georgia a drought disaster area. August 2007 was the warmest August and second-hottest of any month across the region.
Knoxville, Tennessee saw a daily maximum temperature above on 16 days that month. High temperatures were still in the 90s °F (32+ °C) as late as the end of October. In North Carolina, 32 public water systems began imposing restrictions on water usage. The drought peaked in October, with over 70% of the Southeast in the worst category of drought, known as
D4 (Exceptional). 2007 was the region's second-driest year as a whole.
North Carolina had its driest calendar year ever; several towns nearly ran out of water. On October 15, North Carolina Governor
Michael F. Easley called for residents to only use water for essential purposes, saying that he may need to call for a state of emergency if conservation efforts fell short. By October 23, water systems in 17 North Carolina cities were about 100 days from running out of water. On October 20, when Atlanta had about 90 days of water left, Georgia Governor
Sonny Perdue declared a state of emergency in 85 counties in the northern part of the state and requested that President
George W. Bush declare the area a major disaster area. Perdue said he wanted the
United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to stop up
Buford Dam, which would prevent water from being diverted out of
Lake Lanier, which is the primary water source for
metro Atlanta. The water is normally diverted downstream from Lake Lanier to the
Chattahoochee River, and further downstream to Alabama and Florida, which were also experiencing droughts. In those states, the water was needed to preserve species of endangered mussels and fish. The disaster declaration would allow the USACE to ignore normal regulations and close the Buford Dam, thus conserving water for human use in Georgia at the risk of damaging downstream ecosystems and reducing water supplies in Alabama and Florida. Perdue sued the USACE in an attempt to get a court order to force the water in Lake Lanier to go primarily to Atlanta-area residents on October criticized the continued diversion of water from Lake Lanier, saying, "I don't believe that was the regional intent of the
Endangered Species Act, that water would be diverted away from potential human use in order to protect endangered species." The dispute contributed to the ongoing
tri-state water dispute between Georgia, Florida, and Alabama. In
Raleigh, North Carolina, there were bans on car washing (outside of permitted facilities) and filling new swimming pools. At this time, the water level in Lake Lanier was down to below its usual level. It reached a historic low of on December 28, 2007, breaking the previous record of set during a different drought in 1981. Sections of the sandy bottom of Lake Lanier were revealed for the first time since the lake was created in the 1950s. As the drought progressed, the Northwind Equestrian Center in
Cherokee County, Georgia rescued many horses from people who could no longer afford to feed their animals because hay prices had increased as a result of failing hay crops in the region. Ultimately, the Bermuda High retreated out into the Atlantic, and heavy winter rains during 2007–2008 helped alleviate the drought. A wet 2008 further improved the drought across most of the region; however, parts of
Western North Carolina remained in drought until 2009. Lake Lanier recovered around September 2009 following the wet 2008 and 2009 seasons, during which there were
historic floods that increased the water level by . == Impact ==