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Each year NOAA and other groups put out a forecast for the expected number of tropical storms and hurricanes expected to occur in the Atlantic basin. This forecast is based on the El Nino phase as well as other factors such as long-term ocean patterns and past seasons. But there is no similar forecast for…
Posted in: Climate science -
Peanut planting is about to get underway across many parts of the South as soil temperatures in south Georgia and Alabama generally rise above 70 F during the day and no cold weather is expected. In general, planting begins around mid-April once the threat of cold weather has passed, since peanut germination is poor at…
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As the Miami Marlins learned yesterday, weather apps should be used carefully when planning short-term work that may be impacted by current weather. The Marlins play in a stadium with a retractable roof which is supposed to prevent rain delays. However, to do that it has to be closed. Yesterday, they started the game with…
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Now that we are headed into the spring and summer season, it’s a good idea to review what you need to do to protect yourself against lightning. The National Weather Service has shown that, while 66 percent of fatalities from lightning occur in leisure activities like boating or golfing, the number one factor in work-related…
Posted in: Climate science -
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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Here are a couple of sites that you might find useful in looking at current conditions across the United States. The two maps below show the departure from average greenness across the United States from the US Forest Service. You can find these maps at https://www.wfas.net/index.php/avhrr-ndvi-moisture–drought-47. They show satellite-derived vegetation status across the country. These particular…
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Last week I attended the Waste to Worth conference in Seattle, a meeting filled with useful information on a variety of topics related to managing livestock and animal waste under expanding regulations and increasingly variable climate. Our sister blog posted an entry on some of the things that were being discussed at the W2W meeting.…