HDR1012000170100118951200WEEKLY WEATHER & CROP BULLETIN
HDR2012000170100118951200NAT. AGRI. SUMMARY

                  NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL SUMMARY
                      January 9 - 15, 1995

HIGHLIGHTS:  Heavy rains drenched California, halting virtually all field
activities.  Widespread flooding left standing water in numerous small grain
fields and caused extensive yellowing.  High water stressed winter wheat plants
and many of the flooded fields may require reseeding.  The rain was accompanied
by high winds that uprooted some fruit and nut trees in the Sacramento Valley.
Some newly planted vineyards in the Napa Valley region of California were
slightly damaged by flooding and erosion.  Farther north, precipitation with
frozen soil caused some soil erosion in Washington's winter wheat fields.
Spring-like weather early in the week melted some snow cover for winter wheat
in the Great Plains.  The reduced protection of the snow cover raised wheat
producers' concern in the Northern States.  Snowfall later in the week
replenished the snow cover in the northern Plains before temperatures dropped.
Unseasonable mild weather allowed Midwestern farmers to haul corn and soybeans
to local elevators to fill January contracts.  The mild weather in Texas
allowed the cotton harvest to advance near completion, and some producers began
shredding stalks and plowing their fields.  Wheat in the Texas Plains needed
rain, while in contrast some wheat fields farther south were yellowing from
excessive moisture.  Early land preparation was limited in the Southeastern
States by the saturated fields, while the warm, wet weather raised Georgia
peach producers' concern for the number of chill hours.


HDR2012000170100118951200NAT. WEATHER SUMMARY

                    National Weather Summary
                        Volume 82, No. 3
                      January 8 - 14, 1995

        For additional information, call (202) 720-7917.

HIGHLIGHTS:  Serious flooding in northern and coastal southern California
culminated with a record-setting deluge on January 9 and 10, although
significant rain persisted in the north through week's end.  A surge of unusual
January warmth displaced arctic air from the North Central and Northeastern
States, and pushed weekly temperatures to as much as 20 degrees F above normal
in the northern High Plains and the Ohio Valley.  Late in the week, a complex
storm system sparked heavy rain in the central and southern Appalachians as
well as the Ozark and Ouachita highlands.

During the 24 hours ending on Tuesday afternoon, 5.05 inches deluged Blue
Canyon, CA, en route to a weekly total of 20.64 inches.  Downtown Sacramento
tallied an all-time 24-hour record of 4.45 inches.  From the San Francisco Bay
area southward to the Los Angeles Basin, flash flooding peaked on January 10.
In Santa Barbara County, Santa Maria notched a record 24-hour rainfall with
7.52 inches on January 9-10.  Local 24-hour totals topped 12 inches in Ventura
County.  Sporadic showers continued in downtown San Francisco through January
16, setting an all-time record with 17 consecutive days of measurable rain.

At the height of the storminess in northern California, flood waters swept
through several river basins, including the Eel, Russian, Napa, and Sacramento.
On January 9 and 10, the Eel River at Fernbridge and the Sacramento River at
Tehama climbed to more than 5 feet above flood stage.  The Russian River at
Guerneville Bridge soared to 16 feet above flood stage, within a foot of the
February 1986 record.  In Shasta County, where 48-hour (January 7-9) rainfall
reached 17.36 inches at Brandy Creek, Whiskeytown Lake, near Redding, filled
and began an uncontrolled release.  Farther north and east, some flooding was
reported in Oregon, west of the Cascades, and in western Nevada near Reno.
Nearly 10 inches of rain fell during the week in Eugene, OR.

Elsewhere, fog, freezing drizzle, and light snow plagued the Midwest and the
Northeast as warm air aloft overran a thin wedge of cold air near the surface.
Bitterly cold air persisted near the U.S.-Canadian border, providing Caribou,
ME with its lowest January temperature on record (-33 degrees F on January 11).
In contrast, Worland, WY (61 degrees F) smashed its record for January 10 by 11
degrees F.  Warmth shifted into the East and intensified after midweek,
resulting in more than 6 dozen daily records.  Mansfield, OH reached 64 degrees
F on January 13 to establish its January record.  On Saturday, Binghamton, NY
(62 degrees F) broke its daily record by 12 degrees F and Providence, RI (69
degrees F) set a January record.

Severe weather erupted across the western Gulf Coast States on Thursday,
including three tornadoes in eastern Texas.  A day later, rain spread across
the Ozark Plateau and into the Midwest.  Springfield, MO reported 2.16 inches
on Friday, enough for a daily record.  By Saturday, heavy rain developed in the
Southeast, causing flooding in the southern Appalachians, where local totals in
northwestern North Carolina topped 10 inches.  Greenville, SC established a
single-day January rainfall record with 3.05 inches.  Elsewhere, a new storm
overspread the intermountain West at week's end, initiating a heavy-snow event.