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In just a few minutes, a hail storm can reduce a beautiful crop to shredded greenery, destroying whatever yield it might have had or seriously reducing it. But some hail damage only slows the crop down and much of the initial loss can be recouped by later growth. Farm Progress this week described some research…
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We are just a few days past the middle of April, and the maps for the month to date show that many parts of the Southeast are warmer and drier than normal, especially in southeastern Georgia and into South and North Carolina. Some areas have only received about five percent of their expected rainfall this…
Posted in: Climate summaries -
As soon as 2020 ended, people started asking when the new normals would be released. They are updated every ten years and cover the latest 30-year period, which represents the current average climate. The newest normals for 1991-2020 will be released by NOAA in a few weeks, and are expected to reflect the rising temperatures…
Posted in: Climate and Ag in the news -
With the end of the West Coast wet season drawing to a close, it appears that areas west of the Rockies are likely to see the drought that is already established there get worse. Drought conditions east of the Rockies are also likely to spread and strengthen, leading to poor conditions for agriculture in the…
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The huge reservoirs that store water in the Western US are so low that with the continuing drought there, they are expected to reach historic lows this summer. This could trigger the federal government’s first-ever official shortage declaration and lead to cuts in Arizona and Nevada’s water supply. Lower lake levels also means a reduction…
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It is now generally agreed by scientists that liquid water used to exist on Mars, and that liquid contributed to some of the geological features that we can still see on the surface of Mars today. But there is no liquid water on Mars now, and even the amount of liquid water that remains in…
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The National Drought Mitigation Center now offers two ways to get monthly drought summaries. One is a Drought Summary that describes the current drought situation across the US by the weather and climate data that describe shortages of water, and the other is a more story-based summary that provides an Impact Summary of the drought…