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In 2017 and 2018 the peach crop in Georgia took a hit from unusual February warmth followed by March frosts. This year’s crop has had much less damage due to these adverse weather conditions. Producers are reporting an excellent peach crop this year compared to the last two, even with some frost damage to early…
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The latest monthly climate summary for North Carolina is now available for July 2019 from the State Climate Office of North Carolina. You can read it at https://climate.ncsu.edu/climateblog?id=288&h=5666e5c1. You can read the Florida climate summary at https://climatecenter.fsu.edu/products-services/summaries/climate-summary-for-florida-july-2019.
Posted in: Climate summaries -
A recent study by scientists at the University of Illinois shows that forested areas affected by tornadoes or other wind storms not only knock down many trees but also provide an opening for the spread of invasive weeds and pests by disrupting the forest canopy. In some cases the infestation of exotic pests is so…
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The latest outlook for August 2019 was released today by NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, and they show that for the next month the region leans towards warmer than normal conditions. Precipitation is listed as having equal chances of above, below or near normal, but if you look at the breakdown by weeks at https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov, most…
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The latest Drought Monitor, released this morning, shows that most states in the region experienced slight increases in moderate drought over the last week due to low rainfall amounts. The only exception was Florida, which saw a slight decrease. Most areas of the Southeast should experience an inch or more of rain this week so…
Posted in: Drought -
A story in Morning Ag Clips earlier this week discussed the increasing combination of solar power generation and agriculture by some US farmers. The practice of co-locating the two by planting crops under the shade of solar panels is called agrivoltaics. Underneath the solar panels, cooler and moisture conditions can reduce stress on crops and…
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Yale Climate Connections has an interesting story about the importance of the Great Smoky Mountains cloud cover on maintaining the local climate through balancing incoming and outgoing energy. Cloud forests at the tops of the ridges are maintained by dense clouds of microscopic water droplets and other areas benefit from the cloudy and moist conditions…