Johnny Parker

In quite a change from the past 10 Christmases that have been either warm or stormy, a very cold (possibly extremely cold) Christmas is expected across most of the nation. The GFS forecast model, as well as the other global models, continue to show temperatures for Monroe County, Tupelo and Columbus at or below freezing Christmas weekend with low temperatures in the mid-teens to potentially dropping into the single digits.

The extent of the 2022 drought is unknown at this point. Some areas are saying “what drought?” and others have not had any significant rain since August 4th. Crops, yards, and gardens have all been showing the signs of missing rain or only getting tenths of an inch ever since we missed that week of rain that had been forecasted for the end of August. Thoughts of ‘what could have been’ are still on our minds as we finally got some wet looking ground on Monday morning this week.

The growing season is advanced. I was quite surprised driving up Rt. 32 from Edenton this weekend at how much cotton was opening on that early planted cotton. This week with the summer like heat and dry conditions, I expect to see a lot of the early planted Virginia fields to begin showing some boll opening. Of course, soil type and rainfall patterns will no doubt create variability in when to expect full maturity.