Drought
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Last week the USDA designed six Georgia counties as primary natural disaster areas due to recent drought conditions. In addition to the primary counties, there are nine additional counties in Georgia and four in Florida that are included in the drought designation due to their location adjoining one of the primary counties. You can get…
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National Public Radio broadcast a story today about problems some California citizens are having with their wells, which they blame on pumping at farms close to their houses. These people, many of them retirees or farm workers on limited incomes living in areas not served by public water supplies, depend on their wells to provide…
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NBC News had a story online today about droughts across North, Central and South American and their impacts on agriculture. The California drought is the one that is making the biggest news splash, and I have had many stories on this blog listing some of the variety of agricultural effects this drought has had. But…
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The 7-day QPF forecast gives the Southeast a high likelihood of significant rains, especially in Alabama where drought has been growing over the last few weeks. Rainfall amounts of greater than 4 inches may occur in isolated areas of northern Alabama, and rainfalls of over 1.5 inches should cover most of the state. In Georgia,…
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One story in the Southeast that has gotten little attention this week is the severe impact of recent drought conditions on the already stressed oyster industry in Apalachicola Bay on the Florida coast. The combination of high salinity water due to drought, as well as pressures from water usage and industrial pollution as well as…
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CNBC posted a story about the upcoming winter and the prospects for rain in California. After three winters with little rainfall, most of the state is in exceptional drought. Farmers and communities have been able to use groundwater to some extent to make up for the missing rainfall, but groundwater levels are now dropping rapidly…
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Meteorologists often hear folks say that they are the only people that get paid whether or not they are right. In reality, weather forecasts have improved immensely over the years and a five-day forecast now is as accurate as the two-day forecasts were a couple of decades ago. This is due to improvements in computers,…