Pam Knox
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I have gotten a few questions about whether or not any of the smoke from all the wildfires in the West is reaching the Southeast. Here is a useful site that tells you where the smoke is. The site is at https://fire.airnow.gov/. I saw a little smoke on the morning map but there is nothing…
Posted in: Sources of weather and climate data -
The long-range forecasts are beginning to show a strong cold front passing through the Southeast late in October, ushering a period of much colder air which could include frost across northern Alabama and Georgia as well as western parts of the Carolinas and Virginia. Some of the mountainous areas have already seen some frost conditions,…
Posted in: Climate outlooks -
Proxy indicators of past climates are usually things like tree rings, ice cores, and lake and ocean sediments. Here’s a new one–piles of bat excrement that show how their eating patterns have changed over time due to changes in climate as well as agricultural practices. These piles are found in a series of caves in…
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The latest 7-day QPF map shows that there will be little rain over the region this week. Florida will see the most, but even they will get a break mid-week. By the end of the week, some rain returns to the region, but mainly in southern AL and southwest GA and in Florida. Rain amounts…
Posted in: Climate outlooks -
Do you drink coffee? How would you feel if it went away? I have previously written about the effects of a warming climate on the production of coffee, in particular the arabica beans which are the higher quality coffee bean. Scientists previously felt that the lower-quality robusta beans would grow in a wider variety of…
Posted in: Climate and Ag in the news -
NOAA put out their winter outlook today. No surprise that the outlook reflects the heavy influence of La Nina over the next few months. As expected, northern parts of the lower 48 states are expected to be colder than average and the southern tier of states is expected to be warmer than average. You can…
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Have you ever been in a flash flood? Here is a terrifying 12-minute video of four adventurers who were canyoneering in Zion National Park and got caught by a flash flood forming waterfalls over the side of the canyon. They were not watching the radar carefully and they thought they would be safe where they…