Drought
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The latest issue of the National Drought Monitor was released this morning. It shows that abnormally dry conditions and drought expanded slightly across the Southeast, especially in Florida, Alabama and Georgia. An area of moderate drought was reintroduced to southwestern Georgia and an area of severe drought was added to southeast Alabama. You can get…
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I’ve seen a couple of interesting stories on groundwater today that I thought I would pass along. One is on the continuing crisis in the groundwater levels in California due to a combination of drought and extensive pumping, mostly by agricultural producers. You can read that story from the New York Times here. The story…
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The 7-day QPF for this coming week shows a continuation of the split pattern we have seen over the last couple of weeks. Wet conditions should continue to occur in northern parts of the Southeast, while southern areas, especially southern Florida, will see lower than normal rainfall. This may increase the extent of abnormally dry…
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AgWeb posted an article this week on the impacts of the continuing California drought on dairies in the region. Competition for scarce water has led to fallowed crops and higher costs for irrigation. A shift to permanent crops like nut trees has also removed acreage once used to produce feed for dairy cattle. Dropping milk prices…
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The Los Angeles Times ran an article today describing the impacts of groundwater pumping on agriculture in California’s Central Valley (link). High rates of groundwater use have caused ground levels to subside by as much as a foot a year, and have also lowered water tables, forcing farmers to pay high prices to pump water…
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The headline above sounds sensational, and some people claim that it is, but the warning comes from a respected NASA scientist. He says “As our “wet” season draws to a close, it is clear that the paltry rain and snowfall have done almost nothing to alleviate epic drought conditions. January was the driest in California…
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We’re about halfway through March, and so far for the month the Southeast has been warmer and drier than normal across almost the entire region. The warmth has been especially strong in Florida and southern Georgia. Dry conditions in southern Alabama have contributed to the continuing drought there. Generally the coolest temperatures have corresponded with…