Pam Knox

  • The tropics have really picked up in activity in the past few days. The big system to watch right now is in the eastern Atlantic, moving WNW towards the Caribbean. This area of interest has a 90% chance of becoming a named storm in the next week. The model tracks show a very wide spread…

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  • Some crops can take a lot of heat, but others like corn don’t like it when it gets too warm. This story from Wallaces Farmer describes how corn responds to very dry and hot conditions and how it impacts the final yield of the corn crop. I know that some dryland corn in the Southeast…

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  • While we’ve been dry here in the Southeast, other parts of the world are experiencing even worse heat waves and droughts. One of these places is India, where the heat has been rising to record-setting levels. This is resulting in a decline in the production of wheat, a staple crop there. You can read more…

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  • The combination of almost no rain and very warm temperatures has resulted in a big increase in abnormally dry conditions across the region. In a few areas, the drought status increased by two categories, which rarely happens. The only place that did not change or improved slightly was central Florida. Another week of dry and…

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  • Update: slides and video now posted at https://www.drought.gov/webinars/southeast-climate-monthly-webinar-june-25-2024.Join us for the Southeast Climate Monthly Webinar! This webinar series provides the region with information on current and developing climate conditions such as drought, floods, and tropical storms, as well as climatic events like El Niño and La Niña. Speakers may also discuss the impacts of these…

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  • The latest seasonal outlook was issued by NOAA last week. It shows that warmer than normal temperatures are likely for both the July and July-September period. Precipitation is expected to be above normal in coastal areas that are likely to be affected by tropical systems in what is likely to be an active season, but…

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  • The heavy rain that fell across southern Florida this past week led to the end of drought conditions across that area, in some cases improving conditions by three categories. The rest of the region received little rain and a lot of heat and there was a significant expansion of abnormally dry (D0) conditions in the…

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