Pam Knox

  • The Fruit Growers News reported this week that Alabama peach growers are concerned about the lack of chill hours this year.  You can read the article at https://fruitgrowersnews.com/news/alabama-peach-growers-hope-for-cooler-weather/.  Some of the problems with the lack of chill hours are a reduction in fruit set and a longer bloom period, which could mean that at harvest growers…

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  • The Great Falls Tribune reported this week on the results of a new study released by the Montana Farmers Union on how changing climate will affect ranching and farming in Montana in the coming years.  You can read the article here or the full report here. The article says “The report projects a 20 percent drop in…

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  • A new web site which contains links to resources on climate and forestry from Extension is now available. The site is https://climateforestswoodlands.org/resources/.  When I looked at it yesterday, the clickable map to get resources specific to the Southeast was not working properly, but you can find them directly at https://articles.extension.org/category/southeast.

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  • “Is El Niño AWOL?”

    Even though climatologists know the general patterns for how El Niño affects climate around the world, each event is unique and the observed patterns don’t always match what we expect.  The really warm December across the eastern US this year is an example of how different things can be from the “expected” climate.  The latest…

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  • Recent rains in Death Valley has led to a profusion of wildflowers in what is called a rare “superbloom”.  Many desert plants have evolved to survive without blooming for several years until heavy rains wet the desert enough for the plants to form flowers.  The last time this happened was 2005.  EarthSky posted some photos…

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  • Do you want to be a severe weather spotter?

    In spring the National Weather Service offers classes in storm spotting to the general public in each of their areas of responsibility.  These spotters go out and report on real-time conditions to the NWS, which provides incredibly valuable “on the ground” observations to the forecasters.  If you are interested in becoming a storm spotter, you can…

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  • Fairly dry week for most of Southeast

    The latest QPF map shows that large portions of the Southeast will receive less than half an inch of rain in the next seven days.  This is welcome news for farmers who are waiting for their soil to dry out so they can get out and work the fields, but is less good for those…

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