Pam Knox

  • High and dry this week

    A large dome of high pressure covering the eastern US will keep most of the Southeast high and dry this week, great for harvest but worrisome for crops that need more moisture to fill out before they mature. The exceptions to the dry conditions are the eastern end of NC, which will feel some rain…

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  • Mt Agung threatens to erupt

    Volcanologists and climatologists are watching the impending eruption of Mount Agung in Bali closely to see how soon it might erupt and how strong the eruption might be. Agung last erupted in 1963 and caused several years of below-normal weather following the strong eruption. The most recent large tropical volcanic explosion was Mount Pinatubo in the…

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  • The USDA’s Southwest Regional Climate Hub has a new online curriculum on agriculture and climate change available for K-12 educators and students.  I haven’t had a chance to look at it yet, but even though it was written for the Southwest, I’m sure it contains information that would be valuable to the Southeast as well.…

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  • Happy astronomical fall!

    While fall started on September 1 for meteorologists and climatologists, today is the first day of astronomical fall.  Most of the Southeast will be feeling summer-like temperatures for a few more days before cooler air moves into the region in about a week.  You can read more about why climatologists and astronomers have different definitions…

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  • The Washington Post published a story this week describing the loss of unripe citrus fruit from trees due to Hurricane Irma’s high winds (they suggest as much as 70% loss) and how it would affect orange juice sales in the future.  The story noted that the production of oranges in Florida has decreased in recent…

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  • Straightening trees blown over in high winds

    Did you have trees that fell over due to winds from Hurricane Irma? If they are not too big, you may be able to right them using the information provided by Walter Reeves, Georgia master gardener, in this blog post at https://www.walterreeves.com/landscaping/tree-straightening-when-blown-over.  Anything bigger than about 15 feet tall will probably not survive, though, and needs…

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  • The latest Drought Monitor, released this morning, shows that there have been slight increases in abnormally dry conditions in Virginia and North Carolina.  Both of those states missed the rain from Hurricane Irma, allowing drier conditions to remain and grow a little. The latest seasonal drought outlook was also released today and shows that drought…

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