Cotton Belt Weather, Part II
It’s time for your Southeast Regional Ag News, I am Haylie Shipp. This is the Ag information Network.
We chatted yesterday with Brad Rippey, meteorologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, about what we should be expecting this year for weather in the Cotton Belt. Near-term, it was a continuation of El Nino with an anticipated flip-flop into La Nina late this spring and into the summer…
“So that means that the waters that have been warm in the equatorial Pacific should cool down. Not expecting a big impact from that quick flip in the summer of 2024. I think we’ll still see a lot of the impacts of El Nino lasting. Which hopefully means better moisture in the Cotton Belt and hopefully will keep temperatures down a little bit with that rainier weather. But, as we head beyond the 2024 season, getting ahead of myself here a little bit, but we do have to be concerned because La Nina often times will mean drought in the southern tier of the United States. If we see some kind of unexpectedly early influence from La Nina, that could mean hotter, drier weather late in the growing season. I don’t think that’s going to happen, but it is something to keep in the back of your mind if it does start to play out later this year.”
Weather: the talking point that’s always worth talking about. Again Brad Rippey, agricultural meteorologist with the USDA.
