February 2017
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The Southeast Farm Press reported this week that long-standing research in North Carolina shows corn and soybean yields in the Blacklands can be increased by 10 percent on average if control drainage systems are in place to manage water. These systems not only get excess rainfall off of the fields quickly but also have the…
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The Climate Prediction Center has released their latest outlooks for the next year, and the outlooks show an expectation that above-normal temperatures are likely to continue for most of the next year. This is based on the trend toward warmer temperatures which has been observed in the US since the 1970s. The March outlook shows…
Posted in: Climate outlooks -
Yesterday NOAA released their global statistics for January 2017. They show that the January temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 1.58°F above the 20th century average of 53.6°F. This was the third highest for January in the 1880–2017 record, behind 2016 (highest) and 2007 (second highest). This is in agreement with the…
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The latest Drought Monitor shows the expansion of abnormally dry conditions across Florida and the Carolinas this week, due in part to low rainfall amounts and also to the very warm temperatures the region has experienced this past week. Areas of moderate drought have also been added to parts of northern Virginia and southern Florida. …
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If you think it has been warm just here in the Southeast, think again. Many parts of the US are seeing record-setting warmth, including Oklahoma, which has measured temperatures as high as 99 F in the last week. Yes, that’s 99 F! In February. Many climatologists have commented on this unnatural state of climate. You…
Posted in: Climate and Ag in the news -
NASA released their global climate summary today, and it shows that according to their calculations, January 2017 was the third warmest in 137 based on modern record-keeping. Last year was the warmest, followed by 2007. Note that as expected, most of the warming is occurring at higher latitudes due in part to snow and sea…
Posted in: Climate summaries -
Even though it’s been warm here in the Southeast, winter is not yet over. To remind us, NPR has a fascinating video on the growth of snowflakes available as their Valentine’s Day gift to us. It is about two minutes long and features the slow growth of dendrites, which are the typical snowflakes you see…
Posted in: Interesting weather images