https://www.ruralradio143.com/weather-news Weather News en-US Thu, 17 Sep 2026 20:00:00 GMT https://www.rfdtv.com/early-frost-hits-north-carolina-pepper-crop Frost damage and slower production are putting pressure on this year’s pepper crop. CANTON, N.C. (RFD News) — Pepper growers in North Carolina have had a difficult season after frost damaged crops early in the year. Phillips Hanging Rock Farm had 60,000 pepper plants in the ground when a light frost hit. The farm says the early cold weather affected productivity, with peppers taking 15 to 20 days between picks instead of the usual 10 days. Prices have also been volatile, and limited packing options can make it difficult to sell large quantities of bell peppers. Pepper production also comes with a significant labor cost. Penn State Extension says harvest can require up to 175 hours of labor per acre, plus additional labor for grading and packing. Thu, 17 Sep 2026 20:00:00 GMT https://www.rfdtv.com/early-frost-hits-north-carolina-pepper-crop https://www.rfdtv.com/atlantic-hurricane-season-off-to-unusually-quiet-start USDA’s Brad Rippey says a similar stretch occurred in 2002. WASHINGTON, D.C. (RFD News) — The Atlantic hurricane season has remained unusually quiet, with no storms recorded since June 1. USDA’s Brad Rippey says the last time that happened was in 2002, which was also an El Niño year. “In case you're wondering how 2002 turned out, we actually ended up with some significant activity in the middle to latter part of the season. When you put it all together, we still ended up with only 12 total main storms, which is below average, and four hurricanes. At the point in 2012 when we were moving into mid-September, we did finally see our first hurricane on September 11th of that year. Then 11 years later in 2013, we did see another year when our first hurricane developed on September 11th.” NOAA researchers say the most active period for Atlantic hurricanes typically runs from mid-August through mid-October. Thu, 17 Sep 2026 18:31:00 GMT https://www.rfdtv.com/atlantic-hurricane-season-off-to-unusually-quiet-start https://www.rfdtv.com/idaho-farmers-and-ranchers-navigate-widespread-drought Lower yields and higher costs are adding pressure for producers across the state. BOISE, Idaho (RFD News) — Drought conditions are creating challenges for farmers and ranchers across Idaho. Producers say dry weather has reduced yields and put pressure on pasture and water supplies, forcing some operations to adjust harvest and livestock plans. Those losses are becoming harder to absorb as operating costs remain high. All 44 Idaho counties are currently under an emergency drought declaration. Mon, 14 Sep 2026 19:22:00 GMT https://www.rfdtv.com/idaho-farmers-and-ranchers-navigate-widespread-drought https://www.rfdtv.com/south-plains-drought-forces-ranchers-into-winter-planning Drought is forcing cattle producers to secure winter feed early as costs climb. LUBBOCK, Texas (RFD News) — Severe drought across the Texas South Plains is forcing cattle producers to make winter-feed decisions months early as pasture, hay and water supplies tighten. Aaron Mathies of Mill Iron Diamond Cattle Co. says current subsoil moisture may be worse than during the historic 2011 drought. Mathies says his operation began purchasing hay about 30 days ago to ensure enough feed for winter. Hay remains expensive and difficult to find, while limited moisture is also reducing prospects for fall wheat pasture. The drought is also raising operating costs. Producers are moving cattle onto emergency Conservation Reserve Program grazing, building temporary fences, hauling water, and repairing wells while paying more for fuel and labor. Those pressures come even as cattle prices remain historically strong. Mathies says high feed and labor costs are limiting profitability, while drought has left some older cows in such poor condition that they require culling. Without meaningful rainfall, South Plains ranchers may face tighter forage supplies and higher winter carrying costs well before the normal feeding season begins. Thu, 03 Sep 2026 10:00:00 GMT https://www.rfdtv.com/south-plains-drought-forces-ranchers-into-winter-planning https://www.rfdtv.com/farm-country-wildfires-fuel-forest-management-debate The debate comes as the Forest Service considers rescinding restrictions across millions of acres of national forests. EVERSON, Wash. (RFD News) — Wildfires have been a major concern across farm country this year, with some agriculture groups pointing to forest management as a contributing factor. Dillon Honcoop with Save Family Farming said he believes poor forest management is playing a larger role than climate change. “The land is not being managed the way it used to be. There's a reason why we're seeing more wild, more devastating wildfires than we've seen in the past. A lot of people wanted to talk about climate change. Is that a contributor? It's somewhere on the list, but we didn't suddenly, magically pass some kind of threshold. Even if we've gone up a couple of degrees, and people will go back and forth on what warming really is or not. That's not sparking these fires. It's not causing them to spread so huge. It's just not that big of a contributor, nearly as much as how this land is being managed, or as we're pointing out, not being managed.” His comments come as the U.S. Forest Service considers rescinding the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which currently restricts certain forest management activities across more than 44 million acres of national forests. Wed, 02 Sep 2026 18:00:00 GMT https://www.rfdtv.com/farm-country-wildfires-fuel-forest-management-debate https://www.rfdtv.com/illinois-records-more-than-100-tornadoes-this-year The state recorded about 30 tornadoes in March alone before additional activity in July and August. URBANA, Ill. (RFD News) — Illinois has recorded more than 100 tornadoes this year despite not traditionally being considered part of Tornado Alley. Illinois State Climatologist Trent Ford said tornado activity began in February and continued to increase in March. “March, we also had multiple tornado outbreaks. There was one along the I-70 corridor from roughly kind of the St. Louis Metro East area up to the Effingham area. We also had those really intense storms that moved across from LaSalle to Kankakee. I mentioned the hail that was dropped from some of those storms. So we had about 30 tornadoes or so in March, which is way above where we normally see. Normally we're at a fraction of that from March.” Tornado activity continued through the summer, with Ford saying July and August also brought more tornadoes to Illinois than in recent years. Tue, 01 Sep 2026 17:00:00 GMT https://www.rfdtv.com/illinois-records-more-than-100-tornadoes-this-year https://www.rfdtv.com/wildfire-season-approaches-record-territory-across-u-s More than 51,000 fires have burned nearly 8 million acres nationwide this year. WASHINGTON, D.C. (RFD News) — Wildfire activity is approaching record territory after a challenging summer across the United States. USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey said wildfire activity has intensified again after the monsoon season helped keep some fires at bay. “More recently, we’ve seen vast acreage burning across the northwestern United States. More recently, some of that wildfire activity expanding into California and the Great Basin as we’ve seen fuels curing in those areas and very little in the way of precipitation falling across the Far West in recent weeks. Do you combine high temperatures, low humidity levels, gusty winds, receptive fuels, and also occasionally some dry thunderstorms, lightning strikes, all factors in adding to this wildfire season, which is approaching record territory, unfortunately.” The National Interagency Coordination Center reports more than 51,000 wildfires have burned nearly 8 million acres across the country this year. Thu, 27 Aug 2026 17:00:00 GMT https://www.rfdtv.com/wildfire-season-approaches-record-territory-across-u-s https://www.rfdtv.com/drought-disaster-declarations-expand-across-oklahoma Extreme heat and limited rainfall are putting pressure on crop and livestock producers across the state. OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (RFD News) — Extreme heat and a lack of rainfall are creating difficult conditions across Oklahoma agriculture, with USDA drought disaster declarations now covering nearly the entire state, according to KOSU. The department has designated 61 counties as primary natural disaster areas, with another 16 named as contiguous counties. The impacts are being felt across crop and livestock operations, particularly in western Oklahoma where drought conditions are more severe. Summer crops are struggling with limited moisture, while some wheat growers are waiting for rain before planting. Oklahoma State University Extension specialist Sumit Sharma said even irrigation has not been enough in some areas to meet crop water needs. Conditions are also tightening forage supplies for cattle producers. Only about 17% of the state's range and pasture is rated good to excellent, leading some ranchers to feed hay earlier than normal as supplies remain limited. Continued dry weather could create additional challenges heading into winter and affect next year’s wheat crop. Tue, 25 Aug 2026 20:55:25 GMT https://www.rfdtv.com/drought-disaster-declarations-expand-across-oklahoma https://www.rfdtv.com/el-nino-could-bring-relief-to-drought-stricken-corn-belt El Niño could bring showers into parts of the Dakotas, Minnesota and Wisconsin. IOWA CITY, Iowa (RFD News) — El Niño could bring favorable weather across much of the Corn Belt over the next couple of weeks, with some drought-stricken areas potentially seeing needed rainfall. Meteorologist John Baranick says active conditions could bring showers farther north into the Dakotas, Minnesota and Wisconsin. “I expect a lot of the same kind of situation going on here for the next couple of weeks. Corn Belt weather looks to be very active and favorable, not everywhere. And we'll see if we can get a little bit farther north than the main zone that we're seeing right now, which is kind of Nebraska through the Ohio Valley. We get some of those showers a little bit farther north into the Dakotas, into Minnesota and Wisconsin. That would be super helpful. A lot of those areas that have been dealing with drought for much of the summer. So that would be great to see. There's potential for some of that to happen, not this week, but maybe next week.” The latest Drought Monitor shows more than 50 percent of the Lower 48 experiencing some level of drought conditions. Fri, 14 Aug 2026 15:40:49 GMT https://www.rfdtv.com/el-nino-could-bring-relief-to-drought-stricken-corn-belt https://www.rfdtv.com/big-grass-fire-nears-600-000-acres-across-oregon-idaho-border A massive wildfire burning across the Oregon-Idaho border is nearing 600,000 acres, making it one of the largest wildfires in the U.S. so far this year. OREGON-IDAHO BORDER (RFD NEWS) — A massive wildfire burning across the Oregon-Idaho border is nearing 600,000 acres, making it one of the largest wildfires in the U.S. so far this year. The Big Grass Fire started in southeastern Oregon before spreading into southwestern Idaho. USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey says the fire has burned more than 550,000 acres and could soon surpass the Morrill Fire in western Nebraska as the nation's largest wildfire of the year. Rippey says smoke remains the biggest concern for agriculture, with wildfire smoke affecting air quality and visibility across the region. Smoke has spread eastward across the Northern Great Plains and into parts of the Northern and Central Rockies. Higher-level smoke has also traveled across the country, creating hazy conditions and reddish-orange sunrises and sunsets as far east as the Eastern U.S. More than 19,000 firefighters are currently assigned to wildfires across the Pacific Northwest, according to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. The U.S. Forest Service also has nearly 6,000 personnel supporting more than 100 active wildfires nationwide. As wildfire activity continues, agriculture officials are monitoring smoke, visibility and air quality impacts on producers, livestock and crops. Thu, 13 Aug 2026 14:43:48 GMT https://www.rfdtv.com/big-grass-fire-nears-600-000-acres-across-oregon-idaho-border