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Published on 12/22/00

2000 in Review: Weather

  • Agriculture
  • Weather
  • Environment
  • Science
  • Foods

Feb. 4: UGA Not Just Talking About Weather. With the winter's icy surge in late January, the rest of us know now that accurate weather information isn't just for farmers.

Feb. 22: Blame Long Drought on La Niña. While you can't blame La Niña for the weather on any given day, it is responsible for the general pattern that began in Georgia in May 1998.

May 16: No End Seen as Drought Worsens in Georgia. There is no sign of relief as summer nears. With very little rain and temperatures in the 80s and 90s, soils statewide are drying fast.

June 6: Drought Information at Fingertips On-line. As towns and counties impose water-use restrictions, the need for information has never been more dire, or easier to get.

June 28: Drought Damaging Rural Counties' Economies. "I've never seen the subsoil moisture as low as it is now," says Glyndon Register in his powder-dry cotton field near Lakeland, Ga.

Aug. 1: Drought Hits Georgia Farmers' Wallets Hard. The drought will cost Georgia farmers an estimated $689 million on their summer crops. Extra irrigation will add another $50 million.

Aug. 8: Drought Not All Bad: Wheat Crop Sets Records. The drought that destroyed Roger Godwin's Grady County corn crop helped him produce the record wheat yield he'd dreamed for years.

Sept. 21: Timely Rains Help Georgia Pecan Orchards. Pecan growers gave a sigh of relief as timely September rains fell on state orchards during a critical growing stage.

Oct. 30: Georgia's Climate Returning to More Extreme. State climatologist David Stooksbury says the long drought is part of a historically more normal climate pattern.

Brad Haire is the former news editor with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Faith Peppers is the director of public affairs with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.