Drought worsens in west, holds its own in east

With continued dry conditions, drought severity is now at D3 (extreme) and even D4 (exceptional) levels for much of western NC. Several municipal systems are looking to emergency interconnects and alternate supplies. In the eastern half of the state, regular, albeit scattered, rainfall has prevented severe drought from developing. Some local areas have experienced substantial rainfall, while others nearby area relatively dry. Such is the nature of summertime rains in NC...

Precipitation estimates for the period of June 1, 2008 through July 31, 2008.

Fall Outlook: Expected lack of guidance

The outlook for the next three months is fairly typical for this time of year: no guidance. There is little skill in summer seasonal forecasts, which is represented in the official Climate Prediction Center outlook for "Equal Chances" of above-, near-, and below-normal conditions. This lack of skill in summer forecasts is one of the reasons we aren't able to predict drought during the summer.

So there's a drought - I still want a healthy lawn!

Water supply issues are becoming significant economic and social concerns for many states, including North Carolina. Drought conditions in North Carolina during 2007 were the worst since modern weather records began in 1895. Drought is exacerbated by increasing population and increasing demands for water. The population of NC is projected to double in the next 65 years. Long-term weather predictions offer little guidance in what the future holds. This is compelling municipalities to develop long-range water conservation strategies.

The Turf Irrigation Management System (TIMS) was launched in June 2007 by the Department of Crop Science and the State Climate Office at NC State University. The simple interface to TIMS gives everyone, from the dedicated turf professional to the homeowner, help in making irrigation management decisions.

TIMS guides you through establishing your individual account. Users provide their physical address and then answer a few simple questions about the type of grass, soil and irrigation system. TIMS then calculates irrigation needs based on up-to-date weather data. Weather and climate information is retrieved from the Climate Retrieval and Observations Network of the Southeast (CRONOS), an environmental observations database at the State Climate Office. Based on recent weather conditions, including precipitation and evapotranspiration estimates, and known crop irrigation demands, the suggested amount of irrigation is calculated. Results are given in minutes of irrigation needed to keep users’ lawn alive and healthy.

Our hope is that after a few weeks of use, users will save at least 25% of normal irrigation. If 100,000 people use this program to schedule irrigation, North Carolina could save millions of gallons of water and maintain healthier lawns. Additionally, the amount of over-watering will decrease thereby reducing silt-runoff, which is one of the most tenacious environmental concerns of NC's water systems. Check out TIMS online:

http://www.turffiles.ncsu.edu/tims/

Photo Contest

Capturing weather on camera is quite challenging. But some folks, ages 7-16, were up to the challenge. The first State Climate Office of NC photo contest ended June 30, 2008. This exciting contest offers folks ages 7-16 an opportunity to show-off their talent of capturing interesting weather on film. We had many excellent submissions. All photos were taken by the student and somewhere in North Carolina.

We’ll do the contest again next year so stay tuned. Details will be announced in the spring. For more highlights about the photo contest, visit online at www.nc-climate.ncsu.edu/contest