2018
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According to some newly published research in the peer-reviewed Journal of Climate, the Sahara Desert has expanded by 10 percent since 1920. Many deserts form in the belt of sinking air located around 30 degrees N and S latitude. This sinking air is associated with the Hadley cell, a vertical circulation of air linked to…
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NOAA’s monthly summary for the US shows that “In the first three months of 2018, there have been three weather and climate disaster events with losses exceeding $1 billion each across the U.S. These events included a severe storm event in the Southeast and two winter storm events in the central and eastern U.S. Overall, these events…
Posted in: Climate summaries -
This week should see relatively little rain for Alabama and northern Georgia as the front that is current moving through the area sags south and stalls out over northern Florida. That will be welcome news for those in the driest areas of the Southeast, since the rain should provide some needed soil moisture and could…
Posted in: Climate outlooks -
The Southeast Regional Climate Center has published their climate summary for March 2018. You can find it at https://www.sercc.com/SoutheastRegionMonthlyClimateReportMarch2018.pdf.
Posted in: Climate summaries -
Do you remember all the agricultural damage from Hurricanes Harvey and Maria last year? Or from the wildfires in California? Congress voted in February to provide disaster aid to those farmers to the tune of $2.36 billion. But very little of that money has been paid to producers yet, causing them to become concerned and…
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The University of Florida IFAS Extension newsletter posted a good scientific review of temperature inversions in the atmosphere that you might find useful. For this time of year they are especially important to know about because some frost prevention methods like using fans or helicopters depend on the presence of an inversion to help bring…
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The first of several tropical storm forecasts for the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season was released today by Colorado State University. It shows that they expect a slightly greater than normal number of storms and probability of making landfall in the US based on the weakening La Niña and ocean temperatures that are above normal in…