Pam Knox

  • As you saw in my drought post earlier today, dry conditions and drought have expanded in many parts of the Southeast except those that have seen tropical activity.  The maps for the month to date show the story.  A band of heavy rain associate with Hermine and, to a lesser extent, Julia crosses northern and…

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  • The latest Drought Monitor, released this morning, shows that in many areas of the Southeast except those affected by Hermine and Julia, abnormally dry conditions have expanded.  This includes parts of southeast Georgia, southern Alabama, and western North Carolina and Virginia.  Florida and South Carolina did not change.  Extreme drought expanded in the area south…

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  • Production of fall vegetables, sweet corn and green beans looks good so far for Georgia farmers, according to The Packer. While spring production took a hit from poor weather, the dry conditions this time of year has not hurt yields, and supplies are expected to be good.  Production of eggplant and peppers could go into…

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  • Why is TS Julia such a unique storm?

    Tropical Storm Julia pulled together late last night over land on the northeast coast of Florida and has been tracking along the coast to the north today.  Heavy rain has been observed to the north of the storm and mostly to the east of the circulation, although there has been a lot right along the…

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  • Cool timeline of temperature change over time

    A lot of my climatologist and meteorologist friends have been posting links to a recent cartoon from XKCD.com showing a loooooong timeline of global temperature compared to the development of civilization that puts the recent increases in global temperature into context.  IFLScience.com has posted the timeline along with a little explanation of what it shows.…

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  • UPDATE: As of 11 pm this storm will be named Tropical Storm Julia.  It is now located near St. Augustine FL and is continuing to slowly move north.  See https://www.nhc.noaa.gov for updates. Investigation 93L is currently spinning near Daytona Beach, Florida and bringing heavy rain to southeastern Georgia and the east coasts of Florida and…

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  • The USDA’s Southern Research Station posted an article discussing the replacement of loblolly pines with longleaf pines after damage by hurricanes or other strong wind events.  Longleaf pines are more resilient to wind and forest fire damage and are also less affected by pine beetles, but have been largely replaced by loblolly pines grown in…

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