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.

How does your winter solstice weather compare to previous years?

Every year, the winter solstice marks the longest night of the year and the shortest day, and it also marks the official start of winter. This year the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere occurs on December 21, 11:48 P.M. EST.

No two winters are exactly the same. According to the State Climate Office of North Carolina's Holiday Climatology for the Southeast, the following extremes on the winter solstice have been documented:

North Carolina

• Warmest Winter Solstice occurred on December 22, 1931 at Elizabeth City (312719)
• Max Temp: 76°F
• Min Temp: 70°F
• Coldest Winter Solstice occurred on December 22, 1935 at Mt Mitchell (315921)
• Max Temp: 15°F
• Min Temp: -9°F
• Highest Precipitation Amount: 4.12 inches on December 22, 1918 at Highlands (314055)

 South Carolina

• Warmest Winter Solstice occurred on December 22, 1926 at Georgetown 2 E (383468)
• Max Temp: 82°F
• Min Temp: 60°F
• Coldest Winter Solstice occurred on December 21, 1985 at Caesars Head (381256)
• Max Temp: 27°F
• Min Temp: 10°F
• Highest Precipitation Amount: 3.01 inches on December 22, 1918 at Centenary (381495)

The Holiday Climatology page also provides the warmest, coldest, and wettest winter solstices documented at each weather station in North and South Carolina. Let us know how your temperature and precipitation measurements for the winter solstice compare to the records documented at weather station closest to your home in the comments below or in your weekly condition monitoring report.