Lake Lanier's elevation has dropped to a level it hasn't been at since before a historic two-year drought that ravaged Georgia ended on Oct. 14, 2009.

The North Georgia reservoir stood at 1,066.87 feet above sea level on Sunday and has been lower than 1,067 feet since Tuesday, according to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers data.

Summer full pool is 1,071 feet above sea level.
The last time the lake stood at a lower elevation was Sept. 20, 2009, when the elevation was 1,065.55 feet.

The next day, the lake jumped to 1,067.31 feet and stayed on a steadily increasing course until topping 1,071 feet on Oct. 14, 2009, ending a drought that saw Lanier drained to a historic low 1,050.79 feet on Dec. 26, 2007.

Lack of rainfall, particularly in South Georgia, is driving the lower elevations. Lanier is part of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River basin, which includes Lanier and South Georgia lakes and flows in the Gulf of Mexico.

The U.S Drought Monitor shows that most of South Georgia is in extreme drought. Portions of the state, including the Savannah area, have a worse label, "exceptional drought."

Hall County is suffering from "abnormally dry conditions," while some counties in the North Georgia mountains have normal conditions, according to the Drought Monitor.

Some relief could be on the way, as rain as in the forecast through Saturday.

The best chance for rain through the period is today, with showers and thunderstorms possible in the morning, early afternoon and late evening, according to the National Weather Service in Peachtree City.

And then, generally, a 20 percent chance of rain is expected the rest of the week, with high temperatures in the low to high 90s, the weather agency reports.