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A steady amount of rain over the region has resulted in the northwestern half of Bedford County being downgraded to a "moderate" drought status, a drastic change from the rank of "exceptional" that plagued the state last year.

However, data released Thursday by the U.S. Drought Monitor for Tennessee shows that the southeastern part of the county still remains in the "severe" drought category.

Meanwhile, several days of rain has boosted the level of Normandy Reservoir by a little under a foot in just a week's time, topping off at 871.90 feet above sea level Friday morning.

Doug Murphy, director of the Duck River Agency, called the new data released on Thursday "good news."

"We'll probably go over 872 feet by the end of the week, which is higher than the lake has been since early 2006," Murphy explained.

Last week, Murphy said that the current level of Normandy Lake was as high as it will reach this year, but this week's wet weather has altered that prediction.

"Mother Nature has made me wrong and I'm glad," he said.

The Tennessee Valley Authority's operating guidelines place the summer pool at 875 feet.

So far for the month of May, 2.30 inches of rain have fallen at Normandy Dam, but nearly four and a half inches fell in Manchester last week, Murphy said, where most of the upper Duck River watershed is located.

"That was two inches more than anyone else," in the area, Murphy said. "That really helped fill the lake."

The level of the lake was at a record low of 852 feet this winter, but heavy rains in late March and early April added around seven more feet to the elevation.

"Thank goodness we've had a wet spring," Murphy said.