Well, I’m back.
It was a bit more of a hiatus than originally planned, but the climate blog is back! If you’re coming in from the old address, you’ll notice quite a few changes. Needless to say the template is slowly getting tweaked as I learn Wordpress (and if anyone has a good photo to use for a banner, preferably something with dunes and clouds, it would be much appreciated and come with public kudos). So the look will slowly change, and I’d love to hear any suggestions you have!
I’ve been quite busy over the last couple of months. I attended the National Sea Grant Academy training in February, and I’ve had advisory committee meetings in both states. Needs assessment interviews have started slowly but surely, and I gave my first big talk to a room full of users at the North Carolina Beach, Inlet, and Waterway Association Coastal Local Governments meeting. The first FAQ sheet has been published, and it’ll be up here as soon as I can figure out how to get it to work. The Sea Grant Climate Network has been established, with lots of help from Sea Grant programs in Hawaii, California, Oregon, Great Lakes (Michigan), and Maine. Oh yes, and that pesky dissertation is out of my hands, at least until May 6, when I defend it up at Penn State. So check back soon – I’ve got lots to catch up on, and I’m going to get back into my schedule of doing it at least once a week. Meanwhile, the weather in the Carolinas is great, except that we could really use a soaking rain to put out the rest of the Hwy. 31 fire in the Grand Strand. In the Charleston area we’ve had plenty of rain during April (even though most of it came during that storm on 4/2), but areas further up the coast toward the Grand Strand and southeast NC haven’t been as lucky – through 4/26, North Myrtle Beach has only gotten 1.26″ of rain for the month of April (that’s 0.94″ below normal) and Wilmington’s total so far is 1.67″ of rain (0.84″ below normal). In fact, the US Drought Monitor has much of the central and southern NC coasts classified as D0- meaning it’s abnormally dry. Our next significant chance for rain isn’t until the weekend, so keep your fingers crossed.
