Disease Update - July 19, 2004: Blue Mold continues to spread in the Ohio Valley and southern Appalachian Mountains. We have the first reports from West Virgina, from Cabell, Wayne, and Putnam counties. Kentucky now reports over 70 counties with confirmed blue mold, with northern TN at 9 counties and southern Ohio still at 5. In the mountains, there are over a dozen counties will confirmed blue mold loosely centered in northeast TN, plus some adjoining counties in western NC and extreme southwest VA.
The Weather... A long, wavy cold front lies along the Atlantic coast and across the northern Gulf of Mexico. The front will slowly drift offshore and dissipate on Tuesday. Partly cloudy skies for most areas Monday and Tuesday. Scattered afternoon showers and thunderstorms for the East Coast states on Monday with dry weather elsewhere. A cold front moving through the Great Lakes will trigger more showers for the northern sections on Tuesday. Other areas will be dry, except for some isolated showers in the Southeast and rainy weather in southern FL.
The Forecast... Trajectories move pretty slowly the next two days. The various transport events should have little impact on areas beyond the known source regions. On Monday.... there is Moderate Risk for eastern slopes of the southern Appalachian Mountains. There is Weakly Moderate Risk for the western slopes, western WV, north-central NC, and southside VA. Low Risk elsewhere. On Tuesday, all sources are Low Threats, with Low Risk to tobacco crops in the eastern U.S. and southern Canada. Sunday's trajectories moved slowly south from most of the known sources. These transport events also had little to no impact on other growing regions.
TK
Areas at Strongly Moderate or HIGH Risk during the past week: Southern Appalachian Mountains, Ohio Valley
Current Sources:
Previous Sources:
Papantla, Veracruz, Mexico
Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico
Pinar del Rio, Cuba
Southern Texas
Local Weather in North Carolina is available from the WRAL-TV5 Weather Center, which also has links to other weather sites.
***** NOTE: These forecasts/outlooks only apply to disease development from airborne transport of spores!!! We do not have the capability to ascertain blue mold development by other means, such as transplanting of infected seedlings, nor will we attempt to do so. Please consult the Extension Service personnel in your area if you have concerns about these matters! *****
This service is provided by the North Carolina State University departments of Plant Pathology and Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences.