• AgWeb published a story from Bloomberg News yesterday on the potential impacts of a hard freeze on the fruit industry this year after warm temperatures are bringing flowers to fruit trees as much as a month early this year.  You can read the story here.  While the flowering trees might be able to withstand short…

    Posted in: ,
  • Some of you may have heard of the Shell Oil video on climate change that was produced in 1991, showing the dangers of continuing use of fossil fuels.  You can view a copy of it here.  Note that this version has been annotated by The Guardian to highlight what has changed in the years since…

    Posted in: ,
  • The State Climate Office of North Carolina noted this week that “the map on the front page of the NC Drought Management Advisory Council (DMAC) website, which serves as the official drought designation for North Carolina, is different than the weekly US Drought Monitor (USDM) map.”  This happens from time to time when the assessment…

    Posted in: ,
  • The Southeast Farm Press published a story yesterday from Lenny Wells of UGA discussing the impacts of the unusually warm winter on this year’s pecan crop.  He expects that most buds will break dormancy in the next couple of weeks.  The most likely problems will be with decreased pollination and susceptibility to a late frost.…

    Posted in: ,
  • Temperatures were far above normal across the state in February 2017 in Georgia.  Anomalies ranged from six to more than nine degrees above average.  This is the 13th month in a row with above-normal temperatures for the state as a whole.  Rainfall across the state was well below normal with the sole exception of a…

    Posted in:
  • All categories of drought showed a slight expansion in the latest Drought Monitor map.  Particularly worrisome is the re-expansion of severe drought in northern Georgia and back into the western Carolinas.  Warm conditions and an early start to the growing season has taken moisture out of the soil and increased evaporation and evapotranspiration, which has…

    Posted in:
  • The latest monthly climate summary for Florida covering February 2017 is now available.  You can find it at https://climatecenter.fsu.edu/products-services/summaries?id=507.

    Posted in: