HDR1012000170100321951200WEEKLY WEATHER & CROPBULLETIN HDR2012000170100321951200NAT. AGRI. SUMMARY NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL SUMMARY March 13 - 19, 1995 HIGHLIGHTS: Intermittent rains in California, combined with wet soils from last week's storm, limited fieldwork and ground preparation for row crops. Flood damage to many cotton seedbeds delayed planting in the San Joaquin Valley. Standing water in low-lying fields caused extensive yellowing of emerged crops in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys. Lodging in wheat fields increased in the southern San Joaquin Valley. Sporadic rainstorms in the Pacific Northwest curtailed fieldwork. Arizona farmers continued to prepare land for planting, while small grains were reported to be developing ahead of the average. In the lower Mississippi Valley and Delta States, scattered showers early in the week left soils saturated, slowing fieldwork. Unseasonably warm, dry weather in the Midwest warmed soils and allowed spring fieldwork to begin. Mild weather in Kansas encouraged wheat growth. Light to moderate infestations of greenbugs and some wheat streak mosaic were reported. Kansas farmers continued spring tillage and fertilizer and chemical applications on wheat fields where conditions permitted. Wheat in the Tennessee and Ohio Valleys was green and growing. Some farmers worried about a hard freeze with too much early growth. In the Great Lakes region, the warm weather melted the snow, leaving some fields with standing water. Thunderstorms in eastern Texas delayed planting, while light rains across the Plains brought some relief to winter wheat fields, but more moisture was still needed. Wheat farmers were busy applying herbicides and fertilizers and spraying for greenbugs. Wheat producers began moving cattle from wheat fields intended for harvest. Wheat fields across south Texas began heading. Fieldwork for cotton planting proceeded across the Plains. Planting was delayed in the Rio Grande Valley and across south Texas due to wet weather conditions, but resumed later in the week. HDR2012000170100321951200NAT. WEATHER SUMMARY National Weather Summary Volume 82, No. 12 March 12 - 18, 1995 For additional information, call (202) 720-7917. Highlights: Rainfall ended by midweek in northern and central California, allowing for recovery from last week's deluge. Elsewhere, rain benefited developing wheat in the interior Northwest and parts of the Plains, while locally heavy rain accompanied a slow-moving storm across the Gulf Coast States. Warm weather again overspread the Nation, setting more than 80 daily records and rivaling other recent weeks of coast-to-coast warmth, such as February 19- 25, January 8-14, and December 18-24. Weekly temperatures averaged 15 to 23 degrees F above normal in the Midwest. Widespread minor snow-melt and ice-jam flooding affected the North-Central States. In contrast, bitter cold covered Alaska, with weekly temperatures 15 to 28 degrees F below normal (except in the southeast). Daily records on Tuesday included -45 degrees F in Kotzebue, -46 degrees F in Barrow, and -62 degrees F in Umiat. On Sunday, cold air lingered in northern New England, where Caribou, ME reported -10 degrees F, while Sault Ste. Marie, MI tallied its earliest 55- degree maximum on record. Two days later, Sault Ste. Marie's high of 62 degrees F broke a daily record by 14 degrees F. Marquette, MI (67 degrees F) notched the third of four consecutive daily records on Monday, bettering their previous record for March 13 by 15 degrees F. A day later, Marquette's snow cover had dwindled to 5 inches, down from 37 inches on March 9. On March 14, temperatures rose to 75 degrees F as far north as Alpena, MI. The high of 75 degrees F in Grand Rapids, MI was 33 degrees F above normal. Tuesday also marked the second, and warmest, day of 3-day record runs in Fort Wayne, IN (78 degrees F), Green Bay, WI (73 degrees F), Madison, WI (75 degrees F), Rockford, IL (74 degrees F), and South Bend, IN (76 degrees F). Farther south, heavy rain shifted slowly eastward from eastern Texas, reaching Florida's Panhandle by midweek. Showers lingered over southern Georgia and Florida through week's end. Isolated rainfall of 4 inches or more drenched northeastern Texas on March 12-13, and southern portions of Louisiana and Mississippi on March 13-14. In Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX, the 2.96-inch rainfall on March 13 was a daily record, and also greater than their normal March total of 2.77 inches. Rain briefly spread into the east-central Plains early in the week, where Wichita, KS recorded nearly 2 inches. Another area of unsettled weather drifted northeastward through the northern Plains, dropping more than a half-inch of rain in Miles City, MT. Little or no rain fell, however, on most of the High Plains, keeping year-to-date totals less than 40 percent of normal in locations such as Havre, MT, Pueblo, CO, and Amarillo, TX. In Hawaii, Hilo concluded its ninth consecutive week of sub-normal rainfall, leaving their year-to-date deficit at more than 20 inches. The storm track shifted into the Northwest early in the week. On Tuesday, Pendleton, OR, collected a daily record 0.95 inches of rain, 0.05 inches shy of their single-day March record. Spokane, WA measured a record 24-hour March rainfall (1.08 inches) on the 14th and 15th. In northern California, early- week rainfall topped 2 inches at Redding and Eureka, but hardest-hit central areas (including Monterey County) escaped without additional rainfall. The additional rain produced secondary, below-flood-stage crests on the Russian and Napa Rivers on Monday and Tuesday. Precipitation returned to the West, including northern California, at week's end, with significant totals confined to higher elevations west of the Bitterroot and Wasatch Ranges.