Pam Knox

  • Rain returns to the Southeast

    After a dry weekend, rain is expected to return to the Southeast by Monday evening and showers could last for several days.  The rain may be augmented by moisture from Hurricane Patricia, which made landfall on the southwest coast of Mexico last night and is sending plumes of water towards Texas.  From there it will…

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  • Here in the Southeast we often think about the impacts of El Niño as being something that primarily affects us.  However, El Niño is actually a global phenomenon that impacts crops around the world.  Bloomberg BusinessWeek has a good write-up of the some of the impacts on agricultural commodities like coffee and cocoa beans that…

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  • Severe drought returns to Alabama

    This week’s Drought Monitor shows a small area of severe drought (D2) returning to the south coast of Alabama after continuing dry conditions there.  Moderate drought also expanded across the state last week.  Rainfall is expected to return to the area in the next seven days, which may help alleviate the dry conditions.

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  • In the last day, Hurricane Patricia in the Eastern Pacific Ocean has reached an unprecedented pressure of 880 mb and sustained winds of 200 mph with gusts to 250 mph.  This is the strongest hurricane ever measured, although some past storms may have surpassed it but were not directly measured.  No doubt its rapid growth…

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  • After a good couple of weeks of dry conditions, it appears that the large-scale pattern may be shifting back to one of more regular rainfalls.  High pressure has dominated the weather here recently, bringing sunny skies and dry conditions to mostly happy farmers.  The ones I’ve seen have been busy out in the fields harvesting…

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  • The Packer reported today that fresh green bean supplies from the Southeast are expected to be light this year due to the flooding in South Carolina.  Estimates are that the crop will be reduced by about 60% from normal amounts.  The green beans that are available are expected to be of high quality, though.  The link to…

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  • Plant hardiness zones for Georgia

    Walter Reeves, the “Georgia Gardener”, has some information on plant hardiness zones and how to choose appropriate plants that Georgia gardeners may find useful as we go into the fall season and look forward to next spring.  You can find it at https://www.walterreeves.com/gardening-q-and-a/hardiness-zones-for-georgia/.  Happy planting!

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