By By Mike Stobbe, AP

This year was almost one for the record books, but then it rained. A lot. After a fourth consecutive day of rain Sunday, 2007 barely missed becoming Atlanta’s driest year on record. That dubious honor goes to 1954, when only 31.80 inches of rain fell.

Atlanta is at the center of a historic drought that has engulfed more than one-third of the Southeast.  Sunday’s showers pushed the city up to 31.85 inches for the year. A parade of rainstorms that began the week before Christmas helped Atlanta escape its driest year on record. Rain fell in the city on 10 of the last 12 days. Read more here.

Icecap Note: Extreme drought for the southeast states and other nearby areas have been observed during years in which stronger La Ninas come on during summer on the heels of an El Nino. The prior El Ninos winters are usually dry for the northern Gulf States and the La Nina summer tendency to be hot and dry is further exacerbated by the antecedent (low soil moisture) conditions. 1954 and 1999/2000 are examples of such scenarios and in this case 1954 and 2007 ended in a virtual tie.

Annual Atlanta Precipitation from 1950 to 2007. Larger image here.