HDR1012000170100123961200WEEKLY WEATHER & CROP BULLETIN HDR2012000170100123961200NAT. AGRI. & NAT. WEATHER SUM. NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL SUMMARY January 15 - 21, 1996 HIGHLIGHTS: Volatile weather patterns across most of the Nation disrupted fieldwork and increased the need for supplemental feeding of livestock. Storm systems brought heavy rain over most of the Pacific Coast, delaying fieldwork. Small grain growth improved as a result of the moisture, although some counties reported standing water in wheat fields. Drier weather later in the week allowed producers to fertilize and spray fields with herbicides in preparation for spring planting. In the Northwest, the storm system brought snow cover to winter wheat. Rain mixed with snow fell over the western Corn Belt. The rain and snow melt caused major flooding in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic States. Cold air plunging into the Central States contributed to blizzard conditions that stressed livestock. High winds caused soil erosion from Kansas to the Texas High Plains and raised concern for damage to the winter wheat. The cold blast combined with strong winds pushed wind chills below zero in the Texas Plains. Hay supplies were becoming tight as the low temperatures compelled livestock producers to increase feeding. Winter wheat suffered since the cold front brought little moisture to Texas. Warm weather over southern Florida helped vegetable plants recover from the previous week's low temperatures. Planting gaps, caused by heavy autumn rains, slowed Florida's vegetable harvest. Movement of Florida's early mid-season oranges to processors was very active. National Weather Summary Volume 83, No. 3 January 14 - 20, 1996 For additional information, call (202) 720-7917. Highlights: An exceptionally strong storm traveled from the central Rockies through the Great Lakes region, inducing blizzard conditions in the North Central States, buffeting wheat stands in the central and southern Plains, and sparking major river flooding in the Northeast. The storm tapped a small portion of a large cold-air reserve over Alaska and Canada, briefly chilling the Plains. Temperatures dipped to 0 degrees F as far south as northern Oklahoma, but extreme cold, with lows of -30 to -50 degrees F, was confined to areas from northeastern Montana to northwestern Wisconsin. Farther west, heavy snow accumulated from the Cascades and Sierra Nevada to the Rocky Divide, while heavy rain soaked the West Coast. Early in the week, about 30 daily-record highs were set in advance of the developing storm. On Monday, record warmth spanned the Nation, stretching from Medford, OR (59 degrees F) to Greenville-Spartanburg, SC (68 degrees F). In between, highs reached 70 degrees F as far north as Pueblo, CO. The storm reached peak intensity over the central High Plains on Wednesday, with a minimum central pressure of about 28.88 inches (978 millibars). January-record barometric readings were observed in Dodge City, KS (28.95 inches), Wichita, KS (29.04 inches), and Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX (29.31 inches), while an all-time record was measured in El Paso, TX (29.22 inches). In the Plains, areas south of the storm's center received little precipitation and were blasted with high winds that reduced visibilities due to blowing dust. At midweek, west-southwesterly winds in Texas gusted to 75 mph in El Paso and 59 mph at both Lubbock and Midland. Meanwhile, heavy snow spread from the Sierra Nevada into the northern Plains. On Wednesday, Salt Lake City, UT (10.0 inches) and Bismarck, ND (12.6 inches) received January-record, single-day snowfalls, while Duluth, MN marked their first of two daily-snowfall records, totaling 14.9 inches. In the northern Plains, bitter cold and savage northerly winds--which on Thursday morning gusted to 61 mph in Aberdeen, SD and 55 mph in Fargo, ND--lowered wind chills to -60 to -90 degrees F. Highs on Thursday reached only -7 degrees F in Aberdeen and -10 degrees F in Fargo; a day later in North Dakota, daily-record lows included -34 degrees F in Minot and -39 degrees F in Bismarck. Extreme cold blanketed northern Minnesota on Saturday, where lows dipped to -42 degrees F in International Falls and -50 degrees F in Hibbing. Cold air, borne on winds that gusted to 66 mph in Dodge City, KS and a January-record 64 mph in North Platte, NE, swept southeastward at midweek, lowering temperatures as much as 60 degrees F in a few hours. Snow fell as far south as Oklahoma City, OK (1.0 inch) and Springfield, MO (1.4 inches). Severe thunderstorms, which spawned about 10 tornadoes, accompanied the cold front on January 17-18 from Oklahoma and eastern Texas into the Midwest. Meanwhile, warmth briefly surged into the Midwest and Northeast, setting about four dozen daily records. On Thursday, Moline, IL notched a daily-record high of 56 degrees F, but saw the mercury drop to -1 degree F by midnight. Highs of 61 degrees F on Thursday in Muskegon, MI and 65 degrees F on Friday in Burlington, VT were their second-highest January temperatures on record. Late Thursday into Friday, runoff from heavy rain and rapid snow melt overwhelmed Middle Atlantic drainage basins, including the Delaware, Susquehanna, upper Ohio, Potomac, and James Rivers. In Williamsport, PA, 3.03 inches of rain fell on January 18-19, breaking their January 24-hour record. Except on the Ohio River, where high water continued to move westward, crests moved into tidal waters by January 22, ending the short-lived but rare and severe winter flood. Along some stretches, flood waters rivaled those effected by hurricane remnants, such as Juan (November 1985) and Agnes (June 1972) in the Potomac basin, and Eloise (September 1975) in the Susquehanna basin. Farther west, two rounds of heavy snow helped to reduce seasonal deficits. Alta, UT received a 4-day total of 58 inches, half of which fell in 24 hours on January 16-17. More than 3 feet fell on parts of the Sierra Nevada, boosting the snowpack to about half of normal. Elsewhere in northern California, 5-day precipitation (ending January 20) reached 5.76 inches in Blue Canyon and 7.19 inches in Kentfield. Farther north, weekly totals included 4.04 inches in Salem, OR and 6.02 inches in Quillayute, WA. Snow blanketed wheat areas east of the Washington Cascades, where late-week totals included 5.7 inches in Yakima and 8.9 inches in Spokane. Meanwhile in Alaska, temperatures in Fairbanks averaged 21 degrees F below normal and failed to exceed -23 degrees F during the week. In contrast, warmth cloaked Hawaii, where readings averaged 2 to 5 degrees F above normal and Kahului recorded a maximum of 88 degrees F.