We need your help to document impacts from Hurricane Joaquin this weekend!

Coastal areas in the Carolinas might experience major flooding this weekend, partly thanks to Hurricane Joaquin, which the National Hurricane Center forecasts to travel along the Eastern Seaboard. According to a blog post by Dr. Hal Needham, a "complex interaction between Hurricane Joaquin, a pre-existing cold-front, and a building dome of high pressure" will result in a widespread storm surge event along the East Coast.

We need your help to document local conditions and impacts in your area this weekend that might result from Hurricane Joaquin! If you experience severe weather, please submit reports through the Significant Weather Report on CoCoRaHS website. Additionally, you can also include any impacts from Hurricane Joaquin in your reports. Photos can be sent to cisa@sc.edu. As usual, please let us know if you have any questions.

Cone forecast for Hurricane Joaquin from the National Hurricane Center

Drought disaster declarations in South Carolina provide aid to farmers

Although many parts of the Carolinas received rain the past couple of days, this doesn't erase the crop damages and losses that farmers in South Carolina incurred from drought during the summer growing season. In early September, The State newspaper reports that 35 South Carolina counties have been declared as natural disaster areas by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) due to drought, making these areas eligible for disaster relief funds. Many farmers have crop insurance that they purchase for protection for unanticipated losses and damages from disasters, but the drought disaster declaration also makes them eligible to apply for low-interest loans from the USDA Farm Service Agency if they need more assistance. Additionally, counties next to those where drought disaster declarations have been made also qualify for assistance, making counties in North Carolina and Georgia also eligible for aid. According to a Clemson University media release, crops that experienced damage include corn, cotton, sorghum, soybeans, and peanuts, which mostly occurred due to the extremely high temperatures and isolated rainfall events this summer. Clemson extension specialists also warn that despite forecasts of more rainfall during the winter and spring due to El Niño, which will potentially alleviate the drought, farmers might now be at risk of additional losses due to the excessive rainfall.

The USDA provides relief to farmers, but many of us also have backyard gardens where we grow our own produce and plants that suffered as well. Some of our observers report plant stress by describing how much they irrigate their plants or whether the plants have been wilting or producing fruit later in their condition monitoring reports. As the weather changes this fall, please continue to describe the condition of your plants in your observations, which helps decision makers, such as the state drought management committees, monitor whether plants have been recovering or remain stressed from dry conditions.
 

Devastated corn crops in South Carolina.  

Source: Clemson University Media Release. 

Image Credit: David DeWitt / Clemson University

Have you read the September 2015 newsletter?

If you haven't received a copy of the September 2015 Newsletter, check it out here. This month's newsletter provides an update on Phase 2 of the CoCoRaHS Condition Monitoring Project, and we are looking for your feedback as we consider how to improve the reporting process and ways to display your reports through an interactive web map. Additionally, this month's newsletter includes an article on flash drought and a drought update for the Carolinas based on the U.S. Drought Monitor for last week. We also highlight Richard Figlar as our Condition Monitoring Star of the Month and share some of his reports from August.

Feel free to send us any comments or questions that you might have, or if you would like to be added to the newsletter email list.