• The Packer reported earlier this week that Florida tomato growers had a tough time this year with their tomatoes due to a very wet winter and spring.  They reported that “during the 2015-16 season, which ended in June, tomato growers packed 28.2 million 25-pound equivalent cartons of mature greens and vine-ripe tomatoes, down from 36.5…

    Posted in: ,
  • WABE radio reported today that Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division has officially declared a Level 1 drought for Atlanta and northern Georgia, 53 counties in all.  While the Drought Monitor has shown drought in this area for several months, conditions have lingered and impacts have become severe enough for the State to make an official drought declaration.…

    Posted in:
  • High Country News had a fascinating article this week about one of the longest-serving National Weather Service cooperative observers.  Anna Mae Wright is a farmer who has been taking daily weather observations since the late 1940s in Redrock, New Mexico, which means she has been observing for seven decades.  The NWS has depended on faithful…

    Posted in: ,
  • In today’s somewhat surprising climate news, NOAA announced that they are canceling the La Niña watch that has been in place for several months.  While colder than normal conditions have been seen in the Eastern Pacific Ocean near the equator for a while, they have not been strong enough for long enough to constitute an…

    Posted in: ,
  • As expected, the passage of Hurricane and then Tropical Storm Hermine across northern Florida and southeastern Georgia and the coastal Carolinas eliminated many abnormally dry areas and reduced drought in those regions.  However, in other parts of the Southeast, drought conditions generally remained the same as last week.  Since precipitation amounts are expected to be…

    Posted in:
  • AgWeb reported that fears about damage to the citrus industry from Hurricane Hermine caused futures prices of orange juice to rise in advance of the storm’s landfall.  Florida is the second biggest orange juice production region after Brazil.  Cotton futures also rose as flooding was expected in areas with significant cotton production.  You can read…

    Posted in: ,
  • The latest summary for Florida’s climate for August 2016 is now available.  You can read it at https://climatecenter.fsu.edu/products-services/summaries/climate-summary-for-florida-august-2016.

    Posted in: