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We are now well into the typical summertime precipitation pattern for the Southeast. Ample soil moisture from our wet May and early June has provided a good source of water vapor for the development of daily thunderstorms. As usual, these storms will be hit-or-miss across the area, although most areas are likely to see some…
Posted in: Climate outlooks -
In the last day I’ve seen a couple of new stories on the response (or lack thereof) to damage from Hurricanes Maria and Irma, which hit Puerto Rico and Florida, respectively. The National Public Radio story looks at FEMA’s tardy response to the devastation from Maria across the island of Puerto Rico. You can read…
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Tomatoes might not be the first crop you think of when you consider Iceland, way up north near the Arctic Circle in the Atlantic Ocean. But one family has made a good living growing these delicious food items by harnessing the power of geothermal energy to heat their greenhouses, producing nearly a ton of fruit…
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While wheat is not a major crop in the Southeast as it is in some other parts of the country, it is susceptible to hail damage here too, although the hail storms are not as frequent as in the wheat belt of the Plains. This is an interesting story about what happens to a field…
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The Southeast Farm Press posted a story today describing some of the issues that North Carolina cotton farmers have been seeing with all of the rain that has occurred in the last month. They also provide some tips for what needs to be done at different stages of crop development. You can read the article…
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Today’s ENSO forecast from NOAA shows that we now have a 50% chance of an El Niño by late summer or early fall and a 65% chance of an El Niño next winter, so they have instituted an El Niño Watch. A watch means that while we are still in neutral conditions, the ocean temperatures…
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The latest Drought Monitor, released this morning, shows that the two patches of abnormally dry conditions left in Alabama have shrunk to just 1.24% of the region’s area. With wet conditions expected in the next week, the southern patch near Mobile will probably be gone by next week’s map, although the northern one may continue…
Posted in: Drought