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You probably read my weekly drought updates for the United States. But here is a drought tool that goes beyond the US to cover the whole globe. It is called Copernicus and provides a zoomable global map which highlights areas where drought is affecting agriculture. In this map the months are divided into ten-day periods…
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Due to the lack of rainfall and the warm conditions in the last week, patches of moderate (D1) drought appeared again in southeast Alabama, eastern Georgia, and a sliver of land along the Savannah River in South Carolina. Abnormally dry (D0) conditions also expanded. There were slight improvements in drought in both Virginia and Puerto…
Posted in: Drought -
As of 11 pm on July 29, 2020, Tropical Storm Isaias formed in the Caribbean Sea. It is the earliest “I” storm ever (remember Irma in 2017 made landfall in SW Florida on September 10). It is a disorganized storm, which makes its track and strength harder to predict. It is also expected to interact…
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I ran across this new USDA publication on Twitter this week, and it’s a winner. It contains a very comprehensive description of how climate affects agriculture, including extreme weather, indicators like degree days and chill hours, livestock and outdoor worker heat stress, and crop insurance. I use this information every day in my work, and…
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The weather recently has been quite dry across a lot of Georgia and Alabama. This has resulted in some issues with cotton and peanuts. Fortunately, it looks like the next week will be rainier, so moisture levels should improve. The big question mark is from Potential TS 9, which is still forming in the Atlantic.…
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NOAA’s National Hurricane Center has just started issuing advisories on Potential Tropical Storm 9, which is expected to become TS Isaias (pronounced ees-ah-EE-ahs) in the next couple of days. Currently the Florida Peninsula is in the 5-day cone for the storm, so it could progress into Georgia by early next week. Forecasts of both intensity…
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The tropics are definitely heating up, with Hurricane Hanna now dissipating in Mexico after making landfall along the South Texas coast yesterday and TS Gonzalo falling apart in the Antilles. There are several tropical waves proceeding west out of Africa, and the next one is expected to become a tropical depression or storm in the…