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.