Ag Weather Impacts

Ag Weather Impacts

Rainfall on Tuesday and Wednesday was mainly a quarter inch or less across the Columbia Basin. The heaviest was ½ to ¾ inch in the Dayton area. You can expect multiple weather system to continue moving across the area during these next seven days. A cold front will bring scattered light showers today and additonal weather systems are expected Sunday and Tuesday with rainfall amounts of ¼ to ½ inch. So far, the drought monitor has not shown much improvement across the Columbia Basin as we are still abnormally dry to moderate drought. In areas that have received 1 to 2 inches of moisture in the last month, soil moisture has improved down to around 1 foot. Still need another 3 to 4 inches of moisture to reach field capacity on the deeper soils. Mountain snowpack has improved about 10 percentage points this week and should increase again through much of next week. Look for temperatures to average 5 to 8 degrees above normal through next mid week. Soil temperatures have warmed into the mid and upper 30s and will likely show slight warming the next few days. There does not appear to be any intrusions of arctic air expected through Christmas, so livestock cold stress should be minimal and farm to market transport should not experience any significant delays. NOAA's Climate prediction center has updated the monthly El Nino outlook and is continuing the El Nino Watch with an 80 percent chance of a weak El Nino this winter and 55 to 60 percent chance continuing into the spring.
Previous ReportAg Weather Impacts
Next ReportAg Weather Impacts