-
The QUEST multimedia reporting group has a new audio and text story on how recent droughts in Texas and Oklahoma have changed the shape of the cattle industry. During their last drought, many ranchers sold off significant parts of their herds. Much of the beef production moved farther north to places like Nebraska where feed…
-
If you are holding an event and weather is a concern, either because the event is outside or people are traveling for a ways to attend, it is important to keep an eye on weather conditions before the event happens. Early this year in February several events needed to be canceled due to the ice…
Posted in: Sources of weather and climate data -
The six to ten day outlook for temperatures in the US (from www.cpc.noaa.gov) shows a large area of much below normal temperatures in the Northern Plains, leading to some concerns about an early frost along the US-Canada border. If it happened, it would have the potential to drive corn prices up significantly. AgWeb published two…
-
Bryan Norcross of The Weather Channel and Hurricane Andrew fame posted this excellent column on his Facebook page this morning. It was also published in Crain’s NewsPro magazine. An important discussion on hurricane cycles and the vulnerability of the coasts to tropical storms, related to some of the discussions we had at SRECA this…
Posted in: Climate and Ag in the news -
For meteorologists, fall runs from September 1 to November 30. We are often asked why we don’t use the astronomical fall calendar for our calculations (this year astronomical fall starts on September 22). The answer is a combination of convenience and providing the best match between the calendar and the seasonal characteristics. A good explanation…
Posted in: Uncategorized -
As expected, drought expanded slightly across the Southeast this week in response to hot temperatures and little rain. The percent of the Southwest covered by severe drought expanded from 1.6 to 2.3 percent, all in southern Georgia. Rainfall amounts for the next week should be closer to normal, although the heaviest amounts will occur…
-
AgWeb recently published a story from NDSU Extension beef specialist Kris Ringwall on a couple of sources of information cattle producers can use to monitor drought and moisture conditions across the country. Kris points out that managing cattle is always a matter of flexibility as wet and dry spells come and go, but using graphics…