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A study published in February 2023 in the American Meteorological Society’s Journal of Climate quantified a 50-year warming trend in the surface water of the Gulf of Mexico. The rate is twice the rate that the global ocean is warming. This is important to us in the Southeast because of the economic and environmental impacts…
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There were few changes to the drought condition across most of the Southeast. There were no changes in VA, NC and SC and small decreases in AL and GA. In Florida, there was a slight decrease in areal coverage overall but the area of severe (D2) drought expanded. Moderate drought (D1) was reintroduced to the…
Posted in: Drought -
If you are a citrus grower in Florida that has been affected by the wind and rain of Hurricane Ian, you might be interested in hearing about this new study that is being undertaken by scientists at the University of Florida. Over the next year, they will be looking at the continuing impacts of Hurricane…
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I posted this information about frosts and freezes in the UGA Viticulture blog today after getting a request from a grape grower in northern GA. Clearly, it has been on the mind of a lot of growers this week due to our return to cold conditions after a very warm February. This is some information…
Posted in: Climate science -
The spell of dry weather in parts of the Southeast for the past few weeks has been a blessing to farmers. It allowed them to get a lot of field work done as well as dry out soils that were wet due to rainfall earlier in the year. It has also helped keep down the…
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The latest monthly global climate summary was released by NOAA today. It shows that February was the 4th warmest since records began in 1880, and the December through February winter period was the 5th warmest on record. Sea ice continues to set new minimum records. You can read more at https://www.noaa.gov/news/february-2023-was-earths-4th-warmest-on-record or see statistics at…
Posted in: Climate summaries -
Have you ever seen the Drought Monitor map and thought to yourself that it was missing some key areas of dry conditions? You may be able to improve their drought designation by providing a daily rainfall measurement at your location. It’s easy to do–join CoCoRaHS (Community Collaborative Rain Hail and Snow Network), purchase a high-quality…