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While El Niño has not officially started yet, and probably won’t be declared for a few months, the impacts of the expected El Niño are already showing up in predictions for this coming winter. The latest outlooks from NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center show that August is likely to be above normal in temperature but there…
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NOAA’s monthly climate summary for June 2018 for the globe was released this week. It shows that June was the 5th warmest for the period dating back to 1880. For the January through June period, it was the 4th warmest on record. You can see more statistics and read the summary report at https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/global-climate-201806.
Posted in: Climate summaries -
The latest Drought Monitor, released this morning, shows that abnormally dry conditions have expanded in both North and South Carolina in the last week due to high temperatures and lack of rain. A small area of abnormally dry conditions was also introduced into northern Virginia. The dry conditions may be alleviated somewhat in the next…
Posted in: Drought -
As Director of the Georgia Weather Network, I am very appreciative of all of the partners we have that provide sites for our stations as well as help provide funding to maintain the sites, ensure good communications, and provide good quality control over our data. The State Climate Office of North Carolina posted a story…
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The “Urban Heat Island” effect is an artificial warming of the climate in the center of urban areas due to increased heating by pavement and lack of shade due to loss of tree cover, among other things. This 3-minute YouTube video describes some efforts by big cities like Los Angeles and New York to combat…
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Several news outlets this week reported that the USDA is offering relief to agricultural producers impacted by either the 2017 hurricanes or the wildfires out west last year. According to one story in AgWeb, “Producers impacted by wildfires and hurricanes in 2017 are eligible for monetary assistance to rebuild and recover on their farms through…
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A recent article in North Carolina Health News highlights the problems that older people may face when heat waves occur. Older human bodies (and probably also those of older pets and livestock) do not handle heat as well as younger folk, so they are more likely to suffer ill health when temperatures rise. This is…