State Climatologist from around the Southeast Meet with SERCC

The Southeast Regional Climate Center (SERCC), based in Chapel Hill, NC, hosted the annual meeting of their technical advisory committee. The meeting was held at Folly Beach, SC and the local host was Hope Mizzell, South Carolina State Climatologist with the state Department of Natural Resources. The group meets every year to discuss the products and services provided by the SERCC and how they can enhance the services of the State Climatologists. This is also an opportunity for all the offices to share information about current activities and possible collaborations in the future. A special guest at this year's meeting was Lisa Foulabdash with USDA's Southeast Regional Climate Hub. Lisa is eager to create practical working relationships between agricultural stakeholders in the Southeast, the SERCC, and State Climatologists.

Special Report: El Niņo Strengthens for Another Round, Spring Rains, and Potential Summer Dryness

Similar to last year, we have watched another round of westerly wind events in the western Pacific since January. The topper was one of the most impressive westerly wind events on record in March, punctuated by an unusually strong Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) and a pair of tropical cyclones. These westerly wind events have triggered another monster Kelvin wave similar to the one that kicked things off last year. A little over a month ago the only warm surface waters were confined to the central Pacific as El Niņo weakened. Now, warm waters have appeared along the coast of South America and El Niņo has taken on the classic configuration. The resurgent El Niņo was at least partly to blame for the rainy month of April in Florida, but may also lead to late summer dryness. Read more here: El Niņo Discussion