Groundhog Day 2015

On February 2nd, Punxsutawney Phil, the world's most famous weather forecasting groundhog made his prediction for the upcoming spring. Phil has spoken and according to his prediction we are looking at six more weeks of winter.

Since 1886, the groundhog has only predicted an early spring 17 times and only has an accuracy of roughly 40%. You can read more about Phil and how his 'forecasts' compare to observations at:

Groundhog Day

If you are interested in predictions of temperature and precipitation over the next two weeks or out three months, NOAA's Climate Prediction Center has a variety of maps that you can view to see what are the forecasted trends. The maps are available on their homepage at:

Climate Prediction Center

Tools for Making Agriculture More Climate Resilient

The Florida Climate Institute and Southeast Climate Consortium hosted an AgroClimate training workshop for area farmers and Extension faculty on January 22nd at the Wiregrass Research Center at Headland, Alabama. AgroClimate is an innovative web-resource for decision-support and learning, providing interactive tools and climate information to improve crop management decisions and reduce production risks associated with climate variability, climate change, and extreme weather events. Users can monitor variables of interest such as growing degree days, chill hours, freeze risk, disease risks for selected crops, and current and projected drought conditions. Users can also learn about the impacts of climate cycles affecting the Southeastern United States, such as the El Niņo Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The Florida Climate Center is a long-time partner in the development of AgroClimate and provides data and analysis for the climate risk tools.

State Climatologist David Zierden opened the workshop with a presentation on the basics of climate variability and how the El Nino/La Nina cycle affects seasonal rainfall and temperature patterns, and ultimately crops. Dr. Clyde Fraissee and Daniel Dourte from University of Florida followed up with a demonstration of the website and tools available on AgroClimate and how they can be used to manage crops and weather-related risks.