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This week’s Drought Monitor shows that a small area of moderate (D1) drought has appeared in south central Alabama under continuing dry conditions. Abnormally dry (D0) conditions have also expanded in the region, with areas added to the western Florida Panhandle and far western North Carolina. Rain amounts in the driest areas are expected to…
Posted in: Drought -
On January 27, 1940, Georgia’s coldest temperature on record was set in northwestern Georgia in an area known as “The Pocket.” A combination of frigid air, calm conditions, and fresh snow cover along with terrain that trapped the icy air in the region led to the record low, which occurred at CCC camp 17. Since…
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With the change in president, the focus on activities promoted by the federal government is expected to change to align with the new administration. Any time this happens, you can expect to see changes in funding streams, regulations, and programs to assist producers and scientists target the new priorities. Agriculture is certainly no different, and…
Posted in: Climate and Ag in the news -
In this blog you often hear stories about how La Nina and El Nino affect the weather and climate of the Southeast and other parts of the United States. But we spend less time talking about how it affects other parts of the world, even though historically some of the strongest effects of the ENSO…
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I am attending a virtual conference hosted by the Midwestern Regional Climate Center this week. One of the talks reminded me of the great resources they have on their web site. If you go to https://mrcc.illinois.edu/clim/ and look under Resources, you can find climate maps as well as GIS-based station statistics. They include national maps…
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As you might expect, this winter’s cool and wet conditions have not been good for a lot of our vegetable growers. Things are progressing slowly because of the cool weather, and the wet conditions have led to the development of some fungal diseases in spite of the cold. While many insects prefer warmer weather, some…
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At this time of year, fruit farmers are anxiously watching their chill hours to see if they have received enough cold weather to help their plants produce a good set of flower buds for spring bloom. In the past few years, some winters have been touch or go with having enough. Early this year, it…