The next webinar in a series sponsored by the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture will examine the current El Nino, which some have begun calling a "Super El Nino," and what it could mean for agriculture in different parts of the U.S

The webinar will be held at 11 a.m. central time on July 28. Register for the El Nino webinar on the University of Arkansas website.

Speakers for the webinar, "Global Impacts of El Nino on Agriculture," will be Mark Brusberg, deputy chief meteorologist and Brian Morris, meteorologist, in USDA's Office of the Chief Economist. Mark is USDA's expert on South America and Brian is USDA's expert on Asia.

What does El Nino have in store for U.S. weather?

Related: New NOAA drought center to focus on risk management, research

El Nino and La Nina are terms used to describe weather phenomenon that occur when water temperatures near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean are warmer or cooler than normal. The impact of the phenomenon often is not felt equally across the U.S.

In recent months, rainfall has increased significantly in Texas and Oklahoma and the Midwest states while weather in the southern United States has been unusually dry. California and Arizona have continued to suffer through one of the worst droughts in their histories.

As deputy chief meteorologist with the USDA Office of the Chief Economist, Mark Brusberg is one of five agricultural meteorologists providing domestic and international crop weather assessments in support of USDA's global situation and outlook program. 

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Brusberg is the International editor of the Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin and is involved in the production of the North American Drought Monitor.

He recently worked on the updating of the Memorandum of Understanding between USDA and NOAA and involvement with the National Drought Resilience Partnership.

Brian Morris is a senior meteorologist with the USDA's World Agricultural Outlook Board located in the Office of the Chief Economist. His expertise is in weather- and climate-related crop production impacts across eastern and southern Asia, with special focus on rice and cotton.

Related: El Nino's effects on summer weather are 'minimal at best'

He joined the WAOB in 1999, previously having worked as a meteorologist in the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center for six years.

Morris has nearly 25 years of experience in climate, weather, and crop analysis. In this time, he has authored research papers on utilizing Geographic Information Systems to examine geospatial impacts of climate and weather on agricultural production in various regions of the globe. 

Source: U of A