By Clint Thompson
Dry weather conditions that were prevalent across the Southeast (SE) this summer have dissipated. Only areas in Northwest Alabama and Southeast Florida are abnormally dry, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Pam Knox, University of Georgia Extension Agricultural Climatologist, discusses the change in weather patterns that specialty crop producers have observed in recent weeks.
“Every summer after a La Nina we always worry about drought, and it’s really not happened the last couple of years. I was more concerned about it in June, and we had quite the dry spell there and some of the corn producers had trouble getting their crop to pollinate. They did have some losses in that dry spell,” Knox said.
“Then we hit the beginning of July and switched into a pattern where it allowed moisture to come in from the gulf a lot more regularly. We started getting these afternoon thunderstorms. Not everywhere gets hit every day, but over time the area gets covered, and there’s enough moisture to sustain that. We’ve really seen a lot of that this year.”