In 129 years of record-keeping, Georgia has never had a hotter start to a year than the one the state just experienced, new federal data released Monday shows.
January through March was the hottest such period on record in Georgia, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with temperatures statewide averaging 56.4 degrees. That’s 6.4 degrees warmer than what was considered normal during the 21st century.
Georgia isn’t the only state that has been exceptionally hot so far in 2023.
Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia also logged their hottest ever recorded January-through-March periods, while Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Ohio and Vermont all have had their second-hottest start to the year.
While temperatures in Georgia during March were above normal, it was the heat during January and February that drove the record warmth. January 2023 was the 14th-warmest such month for the state, while February was the second-hottest on record, with temperatures nearly 10 degrees above the 21st-century average.
Pam Knox, an agricultural climatologist at the University of Georgia (UGA), said she was not surprised by the exceptional warmth so far this year.
“The coldest temperatures of the winter occurred with the Arctic outbreak around Christmas,” Knox said, referring to the deep freeze that gripped Georgia late last year. “After that, things have been a lot warmer.”
Human-caused climate change is driving up average temperatures throughout the year, but the winter months are warming the fastest in Georgia, according to an analysis by the nonprofit climate data group Climate Central.
Shorter-term trends also contributed to Georgia’s hot start to 2023.
Until last month, Knox said the state was likely still feeling the effects of La Niña — a phenomenon driven by temperatures in the Pacific Ocean that typically brings drier, warmer conditions to Georgia and the southern half of the U.S. An unusually persistent ridge of high pressure that sat over the eastern half of the country for much of February brought lots of sunshine and also contributed to the high temperatures, Knox said.
While some Georgians may have enjoyed packing away their heavy winter coats early this year, the warm start to the year has caused problems for fruit farmers in the state, especially peach growers.
February’s warmth coaxed peach trees across the state to bloom earlier than normal. But that meant the tiny fruit and blooms were vulnerable to damage when temperatures dipped below freezing for several days in mid-March.
Experts say it will be weeks before the full extent of losses are known, but UGA experts have estimated at least 60% of the state’s peach crop may have fallen victim to frost. Georgia’s blueberry crop seems to have avoided major losses, but some growers in the northern half of the state fear they, too, were hit hard by the freeze.
Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper recently assessed the damage to the state’s peach crop and vowed to help growers who sustained heavy losses.
“While the freeze significantly impacted our early-season peach crop, we remain hopeful for a strong late-season crop,” Harper said. “I’m committed to doing everything in my power to help Georgia’s peach producers recover from the damage.”
The months ahead are likely to be warmer than normal, too. The most recent projections from NOAA show an increased chance of above-average temperatures in Georgia and along much of the East Coast through June.
A note of disclosure
This coverage is supported by a partnership with 1Earth Fund, the Kendeda Fund and Journalism Funding Partners. You can learn more and support our climate reporting by donating at ajc.com/donate/climate/
Credit: Ben Gray
Credit: Ben Gray
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