Tag Archives: weather

Farmers Dealing with Heat, Drought and Storms

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Watkinsville, GA |

Some of Georgia’s biggest crops like peanuts, cotton and corn are now in the ground. And so far, Mother Nature has been less than kind, with temperatures being well above average despite the highs never reaching triple digits, due mainly to the increased heat at night.

“We’re seeing temperatures not get down that low. So, we’re seeing a lot of this moisture. The moisture causes problems for fungal diseases, causes problems for some crops like corn that need cooler temperatures to do well, causes problems for livestock because livestock are mammals just like us and they need cooler temperatures, really to do well too,” says Pam Knox, Agricultural Climatologist.

However, the biggest concern is the complete absence of rain in some areas of the state as 158 different counties are reporting drought conditions, including 16 of those in severe drought. And while an increase in precipitation is forecasted over the next month, it is likely to be pretty spotty.

“It may not be in the same part of the state every time. One, they’re not going to move very fast because we’re not in really much in the way of jet streams right now, but they’re going to move a little bit. And so, they develop in one place, drop rain there, wet up the soil so that the next day, that can start to produce thunderstorms. Over time, you would hope that it would kind of distribute over the area, but thunderstorm rain is really spotty and even within a county, you could get no rain on one part of the county and several inches on the other part,” says Knox.

This increased heat might also cause problems later in the summer, as the warm ocean waters indicate tropical storms are likely to be in the rise this year.

“The tropics will really start to pick up, probably around mid-August. It’s supposed to be a really busy year. The ocean is hot. There’s not much wind shear because we’re in neutral conditions right now, headed for La Nina. And so, once the storms start popping, we could see a lot of storms coming in, almost like a freight train,” says Knox.

That means farmers will need to be prepared to harvest their crop on a moment’s notice if the situation arises to maximize their yields.

“People that are worried about timing of harvesting are really going to have to watch carefully because you’re going to want to know when those storms are coming in and you’re going to want to be able to prepare for that. So, this year, the real watch word is get ready now. Make sure you got your paperwork in order. Make sure you know what to do. Make sure you got plans for your workers and your families and so on just in case,” says Knox.

The big question is whether these unprecedented conditions are a trend or just an anomaly. While predicting the future is anything but certain, Knox says the former is definitely a possibility.

“I don’t know that there’s been any studies say that there’s a trend towards this in the future, but it’s something we have to keep in mind because the tropics are kind of expanding as the earth gets warmer. That means we’re going to be in in the area of the tropics where the air is descending as it does over the Sahara Desert and the US Southwest and so on. So, we could see more frequent patterns of these high pressures that just dominate the area,” says Knox.

By: Damon Jones

‘Wetter & Cooler’ Conditions Expected in Southeast this Fall

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Watkinsville, GA

With Spring inching more towards Summer, producers will soon be finished getting this year’s crop in the ground and will begin shifting their focus towards harvest. However, getting that crop to harvest successfully depends on mother nature which, has already given many farmers and producers a wild ride so far this year.

“What we’ve seen is that the temperatures have been above normal, and a lot of that has to do with how warm February was,” says Pam Knox, Agricultural Climatologist with UGA Extension. “You might remember February was really far above normal. Everything was blooming early, and it caused problems later for the fruit farmers, because then we went into a cooler period in March where we had a couple of frosts, and that really caused some problems, especially peaches, but some with blueberries as well. Precipitation wise, most of the state has gotten a decent amount of precipitation. Probably the driest part of the state right now is the southwest part.”

According to Knox, the southeast has been in what’s called a la nina weather pattern the last three years; meaning conditions have been warmer and drier, however, all indications suggest that we’re currently transitioning into cooler and wetter conditions known as an el nino – at this point it’s just a waiting game to see when those conditions will set in, which Knox believes will be this November.

“So, right now we’re in that period where we’re transitioning from a La Nina to an El Nino – we call those neutral conditions, that’s in between those two. In neutral conditions, there’s not a lot of predictability of what’s going to happen this year. It’s not necessarily likely that we’ll see a drought. It’s been dry this winter, so sometimes when you leave a La Nina, you can get drought, but we’ve been pretty wet. So, I don’t know that we’re going to see that this year which is probably a good thing for the farmers,” says Knox.

According to Knox however, one thing producers should consider as we enter those cooler and rainy conditions this Fall is the potential impact that it would have on getting their crops harvested.

“If El Nino comes on quickly, as most models predict it’s going to, we could see an early, wet fall, because that Jetstream could set up over Georgia by fall, which could cause problems for some harvests,” says Knox. “So, I think farmers are really going to have to be watching this fall to make sure that if there’s a window of dry weather, they’re out and making the most of it.”

Another consideration is the impact on the tropics. According to Knox, el nino weather patterns typically mean a less active tropical storm season, which could be both good and bad news for farmers, as storms can certainly damage their crops, but producers rely on the rain throughout the Summer.

“When we have an El Nino, we tend to have fewer storms. Now we can still have strong ones. You know, Hurricane Michael was in the beginning of an El Nino episode, so it only takes one, but we get a lot of our rain from, from tropical storms in the summer. So what that could mean is we could end up with pretty wet conditions, and maybe an early active tropical season early in the year before El Nino really sets up. And then later in the fall, once we get that stronger El Nino really going, we could see more rainy conditions and a less likelihood of having a tropical storm,” says Knox.

By: John Holcomb