Pam Knox

  • Smoke and fire in the news

    The wind shifted direction today and Athens had less smoke than earlier this week, although you could see the smoky cloud band to the northeast.  Other areas were getting the smoke instead.  Here in Athens we will have a reprieve for a day or so as the winds turn to come from the south ahead…

    Posted in: , , ,
  • “Jellyfish” clouds

    Weather Underground had some interesting pictures of clouds in upstate New York that looked a bit like jellyfish.  While we don’t have any clouds in the sky outside my office today (remember that a drought is too many days of nice weather in a row), I have seen similar clouds in the past and someday…

    Posted in: ,
  • The State Climate Office of North Carolina has released their third of three blog posts on the likely winter conditions this year.  It shows that, as expected, due to La Niña, conditions are likely to be warmer and drier than normal for the state and surrounding areas.  Some areas of the state could see increased…

    Posted in:
  • UPDATE: Georgia EPD has just declared a Level 2 Drought Response Level in selected counties in Georgia.  See below for more details. The latest Drought Monitor shows worsening conditions across most of the Southeast but especially in Georgia.  The Drought Monitor authors told me that since November 11 they have gotten 61 comments on the…

    Posted in: ,
  • New uses for wood in energy production

    I recently read news stories about two new uses for wood that may help with different aspects of energy production.  If they can be commercialized, they could be great new options for wood producers. The USDA noted earlier this week in a press release that Alaska Airlines today landed the first commercial flight powered in…

    Posted in: ,
  • Signs of the times

    I’ve been seeing some interesting and alarming stories this week about extremes in climate. The Washington Post published a story about a giant reservoir in Southern California that is nearly dry due to the continuing drought there.  Remember that So Cal got mainly missed by the El Niño rains that fell last winter.  The water…

    Posted in:
  • I got a recent question about how to access hourly weather data from NWS airport stations online.  There are several sources for this information; I am going to give you one option.  Another source is the Midwestern Regional Climate Center at https://mrcc.isws.illinois.edu/CLIMATE/. Start with the current Local Climatological Data at the National Centers for Environmental Information…

    Posted in: ,