AgroClimate Newsletter - April 2013

 

The Southeast US Drought Monitor released on April 30 shows that about 21% of the SE is under some kind of drought stress with most of it (13% of the area) under abnormally dry conditions. This is quite an improvement when compared to the same time last year when about 84% of the area was under drought conditions. Florida was the state in the Southeast mostly affected by drought with areas under moderate and severe drought conditions. This should change in the next drought monitor release due to recent rains across affected areas. More details: http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/monitor.html   Rainfall & temperature- April 2013   Maps above show total rainfall accumulated and average temperature observed in Florida during the month of April (Source: NWS NCEP Real-Time Mesoscale Analysis). Total rainfall levels were higher in the southern and northern parts of the state varying from 3 to 5 inches and lower levels in the central region of the peninsula where observed total rainfall levels weere below 2 inches. Average minimum temperatures varied from 55 to 70°F and average maximum from 75 to about 85°F.     ENSO-neutral conditions continued during April of 2013 and the forecast for the next 3 months indicate above 70% probability to continue neutral. Learn more about the potential effects of the neutral phase on expected rainfall and temperature patterns in your county by selecting a station in your area of interest in the AgroClimate Climate Risk tool: http://agroclimate.org/tools/climate_tool/ Potential effects on crop yields can be evaluated with the county level crop statistics tool: http://agroclimate.org/tools/countyYield/ and the regional yield maps tool: http://agroclimate.org/tools/regionalYield/   Station of the Month - Federal Point Station, Putnam County   The meteorological station of the month for this edition of AgroClimate News FL is the Federal Point Station, located in Putnam County (see map on the left). Based on 64 years of observations, the average annual rainfall observed at the station is of 51.2 inches, with November being the month with the lowest accumulation (2.3 inches on average) and September the wettest (7.4 inches). July is the warmest month (average minimum temperature of 71.8°F, average maximum of 90.4°F) and January the coldest (average minimum of 46.5°F, average maximum of 67.2°F) . ENSO phases tend to affect rainfall particularly between January and June, El Niño and La Niña normally bring wetter and dryer conditions, respectively. Of the top five driest years, 4 occurred in the past two decades.   If you would like to suggest a station for next month's newsleter, please contact Clyde Fraisse- cfraisse@ufl.edu Check the Climate Risk Tool at AgroClimate.org for information about other meteorological stations in the Southeast.   FDACS launches cost-share program for on farm stations The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) recently started a program that shares 75% of the costs of buying weather stations and temperature sensors by farmers who have joined BMP’s, with a maximum of $25,000 per farmer and $5,000 cap per station/ sensor set. Weather data collected by these stations include rainfall, air temperature, dew point, wind speed and direction and relative humidity and data will be available through the UF-IFAS FAWN website. More details about this opportunity can be found at:http://lake .ifas.ufl.edu/   Tool of the month: Strawberry Advisory System Strawberry Advisory System is a tool designed to assist strawberry producers in Florida to decide about fungicide application timing based on Anthracnose and Botrytis diseases development risk. Producers can access this tool on AgroClimate or subscribe for free in the same website to receive alerts in their cell phones or via email. Check this tool at: http://agroclimate.org/tools/strawberry/   Welcome to AgroClimate News, the first edition of the AgroClimate Florida Monthly Newsletter. We hope this resource will be a convenient way to keep you informed about general aspects of weather and climate in Florida, AgroClimate tools, and also a more in depth knowledge about weather patterns observed in a specific station selected every month. Our first “station of the month” is the Federal Point station located in Putnam County. Please feel welcome to share this newsletter with interested friends and colleagues and also to send suggestions for improvements. We will soon start providing maps of average temperature and precipitation anomalies in addition to the observed conditions during the month. As we learn more about your needs we will improve content but maintaining our commitment of being an informative and succinct source of weather and climate information for Floridians. Sincerely, Clyde Fraisse Agricultural and Biological Engineering University of Florida - IFAS   FAWN Access 30- day summary information from Florida stations at AgroClimate.org Upcoming events Southeast Climate Consortium spring meeting. More information at www.seclimate.org ASABE annual meeting 2013. More information at www.asabe.org Contact Suggestions and comments, please contact Marta Kohmann- mkohmann@ufl.edu Verona Montone- vmontone@ufl.edu   Sponsor - Support for this Newsletter provided by Partners