HDR1012000170101227951200WEEKLY WEATHER & CROP BULLETIN HDR2012000170101227951200NAT. AGRI. And Nat. Weather Summary NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL SUMMARY December 18 - 24, 1995 HIGHLIGHTS: Heavy snow from an early-week winter storm fell from the Texas plains to Pennsylvania, bringing much-needed moisture to small grain fields. Rain in the southern Great Plains provided some relief to wheat fields that were not already damaged from the extended dry weather. In Florida, brief durations of below-freezing temperatures did negligible damage to citrus trees. Low-volume irrigation continued in citrus groves where leaf curl and wilt were evident. Harvest of oranges for processing was active throughout Florida's citrus region. Freezing weather burned some of Florida's vegetable crops' leaves, but the extent of the damage had not been determined. In the southern Great Plains and the Delta States, minor insect problems in small grains were reported in some early wheat fields. Wheat in the Midwest was in mostly good condition before the snow arrived. A dry week was welcomed in the Pacific Northwest where some standing water remained in low-land fields from last week's storm. Light rainfall limited fieldwork in northern California, while farther south, citrus growers continued to pick fruit. National Weather Summary Volume 82, No. 52 December 17 - 23, 1995 For additional information, call (202) 720-7917. Highlights: Quiet weather prevailed along the West Coast after last week's major storm, owing to the development of a jet-stream split over the eastern Pacific. Energy coursing into the southern branch of the split jet spurred the development of a significant storm. The early- to midweek system eased drought in the central and southern Plains, delivered heavy snow from the Southwest to the Northeast, and dropped heavy rain on the Gulf Coast States. In the storm's wake,temperatures showed a remarkable uniformity, resulting in above-normal readings in the North and below-normal values across the South. Early in the week, 4 to 10 inches of rain fell from eastern Texas to northwestern Florida, causing widespread flash flooding and minor river flooding. Two-day (December 17-18) totals reached 8.89 inches in Beaumont, TX, 8.84 inches in Lafayette, LA, and 7.68 inches in Mobile, AL. In addition to the heavy rain, severe weather, including more than a dozen tornadoes, raked the region. Meanwhile, urgently needed precipitation fell across the central and southern Plains. In Lubbock, TX, 0.45 inches of rain on Sunday ended a 75-day dry spell, leaving the city 2 days shy of its February-April 1972 all-time record. Dodge City, KS measured 0.48 inches (5.0 inches of snow), quadrupling their October 1 - December 15 total. Storm-total snowfall on the southern Plains, whipped by wind gusts in excess of 30 mph, reached 2.7 inches in Amarillo, TX and 4.0 inches in Oklahoma City, OK. Las Vegas, NM reported a maximum depth of 7 inches. The northwestern half of the central Plains remained critically dry, however. In Tribune, KS, only 0.13 inches of precipitation fell during the astronomical autumn (September 23 - December 22), breaking a record that had stood since 1939, when 0.18 inches fell. Farther east, heavy rain fell as far north as the lower Ohio River Valley, with heavy snow and ice accumulations observed from the Midwest into the Northeast. December 18-19 snowfall topped 8 inches from central Indiana to New England, driven by north-to-northeasterly wind gusts that reached 43 mph in Cleveland, OH (15.3 inches of snow) and 39 mph in Indianapolis, IN (8.0 inches). In Youngstown, OH, an 11.6-inch total on Tuesday was their greatest single-day December snowfall. The storm boosted the astronomical-autumn snowfall to a record 25.4 inches (three times normal) in Harrisburg, PA. Elsewhere in the Northeast, snowfall included 10.0 inches in Bridgeport, CT, 15.0 inches at New York City's La Guardia Airport, and 15.7 inches in Portland, ME. The storm dislodged remnant arctic air from northern Maine that, on Sunday, resulted in minima as low as -14 degrees F in Caribou and -9 degrees F in Houlton. Although the storm stalled over southeastern Canada after midweek, the resultant northwesterly flow failed to deliver bitterly cold air. East of the Rockies, the Nation's lowest temperature after midweek was -12 degrees F, recorded on Friday morning in Williston, ND. But the persistent flow chilled the South, where on Thursday, Atlanta, GA marked the first of 4 consecutive days with a high of 40 degrees F or below. On Saturday, the Nation's highest reported temperature was 68 degrees F, in Key West, FL. Farther north, cloudy, squally weather plagued the Great Lakes States, where Pittsburgh, PA spent 94 of the week's last 111 hours engulfed in snow showers. Arctic air also remained absent from the West, although in high-elevation valleys, lows on Saturday morning dipped to -4 degrees F in Gallup, NM and -12 degrees F in Ely, NV. Farther south, late-week moisture streaked eastward, whitening the southern Rockies and dampening Florida and southern Texas. By Saturday morning, 4 inches of new snow covered Red River, NM. Additional southern-stream energy moved through southern California on Saturday, delivering 0.77 inches of rain to Los Angeles.