October 2016
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Last month, NOAA declared that based on the most recent data, the chance of a La Niña developing was only about 40 percent, and they removed the La Niña watch that they had declared earlier this summer. One month later, and the La Niña watch has returned with a 70% chance of occurring. The change…
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The latest Drought Monitor, released this morning, shows an expansion of extreme and exceptional drought in northwest Georgia and northeast Alabama. The extreme drought conditions now extend around most of the Atlanta metro area, although the city is only in moderate to severe drought. Abnormally dry conditions now cover the entire state of Alabama where drought…
Posted in: Drought -
Deke Arndt posted an article last week in NOAA’s “Beyond the Data” blog on how to answer questions about extremes in temperature using the NCEI website and database. You can read about it at https://www.climate.gov/news-features/blogs/beyond-data/back-basics-temperature-truisms. If you need this information for stations beyond the NCEI list, you can probably get them from your local state climatologist or…
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All of the flooding that is underway in North Carolina following the passage of Hurricane Matthew has caused tremendous problems for livestock producers. The Washington Post noted here that “At least tens of thousands of chickens, hogs and other livestock are feared dead in floodwaters that washed over factory farms and towns in eastern North Carolina…
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Haaretz reported this week that scientists in Israel have produced a heat-resistant variety of apricot that does well in hotter conditions. This is expected to do well in future warmer climates. You can read the article at https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/science/1.746880. One interesting twist to the story is described here: “Support for their work came from South Carolina, where…
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A post on Facebook this morning reminded me that it is time to start thinking about fall frosts and freezes. Fortunately from a frost perspective, the next few weeks look like they will be above normal in temperature so we are likely to see a later than average date for the first frost, but even…
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The Packer noted this week that Hurricane Matthew damaged crops in some parts of the Southeast while leaving others relatively untouched. Florida crops were not significantly affected by the storm winds, which were lower than expected due to the center of the storm remaining offshore. Georgia crops also escaped the worst damage, although six inches…