December Drought Update

Since we will not be releasing our newsletter until January, we thought it would be useful to update you on the current drought conditions in the Carolinas.

As of December 20th, the western part of North Carolina was still seeing impacts from drought.  Six counties in that part of the state were listed in extreme drought.  An additional nine counties were listed in severe drought and 24 were listed in moderate drought.

In the western part of South Carolina, there are three counties in severe drought.  Another 16 counties are in moderate drought conditions. 

The U.S. Drought Monitor states that year-to-date deficits in precipitation of 10-20 inches are commonly seen in the areas currently impacted by drought in the Southeast.

We hope you are all having a safe and happy holiday season!

We need your feedback!

The condition monitoring map was created by our Web Guru, David Eckhardt, and we want to know what you think. To find the feedback survey, go to the map at: www.cisa.sc.edu/map/, and click on the "Feedback" tab. There are only six questions, so it should take only a few minutes of your time. We need your feedback so that we can improve the map and track its use. If you have given feedback in the past, feel free to do it again because we have made a few changes such as the colored report circles based on the condition monitoring scale bar! Thank you in advance for your help!

Southeast Regional Climate Center Report

The Southeast Regional Climate Center (SERCC) released an article on the drought that has been impacting the Southeast region in 2016.  The report discusses the progression of the drought, the analysis of station precipitation totals, and impacts from the drought.  Go check it out here!

Sign Up Today for Phase 2 of the CISA and CoCoRaHS Condition Monitoring Pilot Project!

The national launch of the new CoCoRaHS condition monitoring report form occurred on October 10th. The reporting form has been updated to include a condition monitoring scale bar in order to create a more streamlined process for CoCoRaHS observers to submit their reports. A reporting guide for condition monitoring can be found on the CoCoRaHS website.

The second phase of CISA’s condition monitoring research project also focuses on a web map developed to display reports spatially, recruiting new volunteers, conducting volunteer surveys to gather feedback, and conducting interviews to understand how the new tools are used for drought monitoring and management decisions.

Are you interested in submitting condition monitoring reports as part of this research project? Are you willing to share feedback about your experiences through three online surveys over the course of one year? If so, please complete our Volunteer Information Form to be added to the project volunteer list.

Thank you to all of our new and continuing observers who attended our training webinars. If you were not able to attend, the presentation can be found here on the CISA webpage.

Tropical Storm Hermine

Tropical Storm Hermine is currently making its way up the Southeast coast.  Hermine was considered a Category 1 hurricane when it first made landfall in Florida; it has since weakened, but is expected to impact areas in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina over Labor Day Weekend.  Flash floods, high winds and storm surges are some of the biggest concerns with this tropical storm.  Keep updated on the weather conditions in your area with NOAA’s National Hurricane Center, The Weather Channel’s Hurricane News, or your local news station.  

We hope you all have a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend!

CoCoRaHS July WxTalk Webinar

Chip Konrad, from the Southeast Regional Climate Center, presented a webinar on the extreme weather and climate of the southeast region of the United States.  This presentation discussed a couple of the NOAA-funded tools to cultivate research and climate data.  Some of the new programs are the climate perspective tool and map outlook tool, which help to compare and predict weather events from different time frames.  Konrad also highlighted the variability and trends in the southeast climate that separate it from other regions in the United States; the rainfall, drought and temperature patterns are unique among sections from Virginia to Florida.  You can access this webinar, and others, from the CoCoRaHS page.    

Expanding dry conditions and short term drought in the Southeast

The U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) published this morning shows dry conditions have expanded in the Southeast. The USDM authors explain in the excerpt below from the Drought Monitor Text Summary for June 21, 2016 that the expansion of dry conditions in the region has been caused by below normal rainfall in many areas and declining soil moisture:

• Southeast and Tennessee USDM Text Summary: Despite locally heavy showers, most of the region’s existing Moderate (D1) to Severe (D2) Drought areas reported little — if any — rainfall during the period. The crux of the heaviest rain (2-6 inches) fell over southern and west-central Alabama, affording some localized drought relief in these areas. Across interior portions of the Southeast, soil moisture continued to decline rapidly; according to USDA-NASS [National Agricultural Statistics Service], topsoil moisture was rated 46, 42, and 35 percent poor to very poor in Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee, respectively. To further illustrate the dryness, 90-day rainfall over the newly-expanded D2 area from northern Georgia into western North Carolina has totaled a meager 60 percent of normal or less, and in some areas below 40 percent. Farther north in Tennessee, dryness continued to intensify in eastern portions of the state, where 30-day rainfall has measured 40 percent of normal or less.

In Upstate South Carolina, dry conditions have expanded and worsened, with a small percentage in the northwest corner now classified as Severe Drought (D2). Dry conditions have mainly impacted agriculture in this region, indicating the onset of agricultural drought. For more information, you can check out this local news story that highlights how farmers in the Upstate have had to increase irrigation due to low rainfall.

May 2016 newsletter

With summer almost here, the May  newsletter contains articles featuring summer climate and weather outlooks by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council's annual meeting to discuss ongoing dry conditions and the state's drought preparedness activities. We also discuss the 2016 hurricane outlook and preparedness tips, and we recognize Ed Barrows from Wake County, North Carolina as our Condition Monitoring Star of the Month. You can find a copy of the May Condition Monitoring Newsletter here.

April 2016 newsletter now available!

The April 2016 Condition Monitoring Newsletter is now available here. This month's newsletter features one of CISA's partners and a drought decision maker, the National Drought Mitigation Center. We also highlight how condition monitoring varies in coastal areas by featuring two CoCoRaHS Condition Monitoring Observers of the Month--Carl Cole from Charleston County, SC and Karen Schuck from McIntosh County, GA.

If you have suggestions for a future newsletter article or blog post, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at cisa@sc.edu.

March 2016 newsletter and Spring Tides

We hope that everyone has been enjoying their spring. A few weeks ago we released our March 2016 Condition Monitoring newsletter with some exciting updates about the condition monitoring project. You can check out a copy of the newsletter here if you did not already receive it.

Perigean-spring tides were also predicted this past weekend, and many coastal areas were expected to experience King Tides, or extremely high tides that often occur during perigean spring tides due to the additional gravitational pull of the moon and sun's alignment with the earth. If you saw King Tides in your area, be sure to send your photos to us at cisa@sc.edu.

South Carolina farmers struggle after crop damage from extreme weather events in 2015

An article published in The State newspaper on March 7th, 2016 describes the challenges farmers in South Carolina faced as a result of drought, flood, and heavy precipitation events in 2015 that impacted crops. According to the S.C. Department of Agriculture, the agriculture industry incurred $587 million in damages in 2015, resulting from losses in soybean, cotton, and peanut crops. Many farmers worry about compounding losses and debt in 2016 due to falling commodity prices and more unanticipated extreme events, especially if federal and state aid do not come through to supplement crop disaster aid from crop insurance.

Damaged peanut crop - photo from The State

February 2016 monthly newsletter now available!

We hope that you have been enjoying the last few weeks of winter. For a recap about winter weather in December and January as well as condition monitoring project updates, be sure to check out the February 2016 Condition Monitoring Newsletter here. We also share some condition monitoring tips and photos from CoCoRaHS observer Melinda Ball in this newsletter, who we selected as observer of the month.

Winter weather reminders

The National Weather Service (NWS) forecasts a severe winter storm to affect many parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast over the next few days. While most of the snow will likely occur farther north, they forecast icy rain in North Carolina and in the northern parts of South Carolina and Georgia. All NWS alerts can be searched by county on their website, which is updated regularly. The severity of the conditions in your area will be reflected in the statement issued by the NWS for where you live. Additional information explaining the different types of winter weather alerts can be found here.

Be sure to check out the CoCoRaHS training page for a refresher on how to measure winter precipitation with your rain gauge. Also, if you take any photos, be sure to send them to us at cisa@sc.edu so we can highlight them in our next newsletter.