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California is the primary source for a lot of the country’s agricultural production, especially nuts and vegetables. But the amount of water available from surface sources is nowhere enough to maintain production, so farmers have been pumping more and more water out of the aquifers to get what they need for their crops. However, as…
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Another tragedy due to wild weather occurred this week in Kansas, as the hurricane-force winds that occurred across the central Plains led to out-of control wildfires that destroyed homes, barns, and livestock. This storm system also brought tornadoes as far north as Minnesota and central Wisconsin, something that is just astounding to me as the…
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The past few days have been unprecedented in the location and magnitude of severe weather in the central U.S. In spite of the number of tornadoes and their occurrence at night and at an unusual time of year, the total number of deaths was (at least as far as we know now) less than 100…
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The latest seasonal outlooks for January through March 2022 were released today by NOAA. They show a pattern very similar to what we expect from a weak to moderate La Nina. Since that is the ENSO phase we are in now, that is not too surprising. You can always see these maps at https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/seasonal.php?lead=1 too.…
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If you are an educator or know of one that teaches weather and climate, you might be interested in this offer from the Cloud Appreciation Society. They are putting together a free package of information about cloud identification that you can use for your teaching. It is also available for homeschoolers. They will be putting…
Posted in: Climate and Ag in the news -
Rain in the past week has made a small dent in dry conditions in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia as well as in South Carolina. Drought conditions have increased in Virginia, which largely got missed by this week’s rain. Puerto Rico’s drought status did not change from last week. With little rain expected in Virginia and…
Posted in: Drought -
Several of my friends have commented to me this year how hard it has been to find a good live Christmas tree (especially at a reasonable price). There are a number of reasons for this, but one is that the weather has not been conducive to growing healthy trees. Here is a CNN story from…
Posted in: Climate and Ag in the news