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The latest Drought Monitor from this morning shows an expansion in abnormally dry conditions in the Southeast this week. Since we have had little rain and warm temperatures, this is not a surprise. With the heavy rain that has started falling in Alabama and that is expected to move into Georgia, the Carolinas and Florida…
Posted in: Drought -
One of the issues with looking at the impacts of a warmer climate is that not all areas will be equally affected by the changes in temperature. Some areas are likely to be losers, with more negative impacts, while others might benefit from a longer growing season, less frost and warmer temperatures. But the warmer…
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If you are interested in observing the weather, you will enjoy this recent article from the Washington Post‘s Capital Weather Gang on what it is like to observe the weather on top of Mt. Washington, the tallest mountain in the northeast US. The observatory there holds the record for the strongest wind ever recorded on…
Posted in: Climate and Ag in the news -
A new scientific study of long-range statistical climate forecasts (published recently in Nature Geoscience) shows that temperature patterns in the central Pacific Ocean can predict the likelihood of droughts and heat waves on the East Coast by up to several weeks. You can read a story about the research at PBS at https://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/pacific-hot-water-predicts-heat-waves-drought/. The Christian Science…
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A few weeks ago I posted an article about a new report on the Effects of Drought on Forests and Rangelands from the US Department of Agriculture. Here is a 4 minute video which describes the report in a little more detail. You can watch it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv-SMcnYabw&feature=share.
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Spring snowstorms can be among the most costly to cattle producers because in many areas of the country, that is when calving occurs. AgWeb published a story yesterday warning that a snowstorm that is forecast to hit Wyoming in the next few days may severely impact cattle producers in the area due to the number…
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The WunderBlog post for 3/25 discusses the likely evolution of the tropical Pacific Ocean from strong El Niño to “whatever comes next”. Both El Niño and La Niña produce strong climate signals in the Southeast, so farmers are starting to watch this transition carefully to see what is likely to happen later this summer and…