HDR1012000170100130961200WEEKLY WEATHER & CROP BULLETIN HDR2012000170100130961200NAT. AGRI. SUM.& NAT. WEATHER SUM. NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL SUMMARY January 22 - 28, 1996 HIGHLIGHTS: A series of storms brought very heavy rain along the Pacific Coast that hampered field activities. Wheat growth was slowed by the cold, damp weather in the Sacramento Valley, where some fields had standing water. The rain improved pasture and range conditions but slowed California's citrus harvest. Adequate snow cover in the Northern States protected winter wheat from frigid temperatures. The southern Great Plains were in need of a soaking rain to restore soil moisture supplies for the wheat crop. The lack of adequate snow cover in the central and southern Plains and the bitter cold in some areas raised producers' concern. The lack of any significant rain in Texas plus windy weather depleted soil moisture supplies. Last week's freeze caused damage to some Texas small grain fields and halted growth. Continued heavy supplemental feeding of livestock resulted in short hay supplies. The temperature fluctuations caused health problems for some livestock. Mild weather over south Florida allowed the sugarcane harvest to make good progress. The warmer weather aided vegetable growth and enabled acreage that was harmed by the earlier adverse weather to improve. Mature vegetable acreage harmed by the previous cold snap was removed from production. Florida's citrus harvest was very active for all types of early fruit. National Weather Summary Volume 83, No. 4 January 21 - 27, 1996 For additional information, call (202) 720-7917. Highlights: Bitterly cold air continued to amass across western Canada, confined by a complex atmospheric blocking pattern. Enough cold air seeped southward to hold temperatures more than 20 degrees F below normal in northern Montana and end a 3-week warm spell in the West. Two storms crossed the Nation south of the block, dumping copious snow from California's Sierra Nevada to Utah's Wasatch Range and keeping the East warm and extremely wet for a second consecutive week. In addition, the second storm delivered heavy snow to the Midwestern and Great Lakes States. Little moisture fell, however, on stressed winter wheat stands from the central Plains southward. During the week, enough cold air arrived in western Washington to drop snow levels to the coast, where Seattle received a weekly total of 2.0 inches. In the Cascades, Stampede Pass ended the week with a 70-inch snow depth, up from 41 inches on January 19. Farther east, weekly snowfall included 6.8 inches in Spokane, WA and 11.5 inches in Missoula, MT. Meanwhile, northern California's marked recovery from early-season dryness continued, as the moisture content of the Sierra Nevada snowpack approached 90 percent of normal on January 28, up from about one-third of normal on January 11. In the foothills, 10.93 inches fell during the week at Blue Canyon, while 6.01 inches fell along the coast at Eureka. The week's first storm dropped snow as far south as Arizona's Mongollon Rim, where Flagstaff received 4.4 inches on Monday, but failed to significantly dent moisture deficits from southern California to the central and southern Plains. On January 22 in San Angelo, TX, southerly winds in advance of the storm gusted to 45 mph; a day later, westerly wind gusts reached 51 mph. Farther north, early-week, storm-total snowfall topped 4 inches in a band across the North-Central States, including 5.6 inches in Norfolk, NE, 5.1 inches in Madison, WI, and 6.7 inches in Alpena, MI. Heavy rain returned to the Ohio Valley on Tuesday, aggravating the worst flooding since the late 1970's on the middle Ohio River. On Thursday, the Ohio River crested at 5.3 feet above flood stage at Cincinnati, the highest level since March 1979. The warm, wet weather moved into the Northeast at midweek, melting much of the remaining snow and perpetuating high water levels and ice-jam flooding. Caribou, ME (49 degrees F) notched a daily-record high on Wednesday. As the second storm moved ashore, Elko, NV received 20.9 inches of snow on January 24-25, burying their all-time, 24-hour record of 16.7 inches, set in January 1951. Meanwhile, 16.5 inches blanketed Salt Lake City, UT, breaking their January 24-hour record of 10.0 inches, set last week. As the storm churned through the Midwest on Friday, temperatures dropped sharply in the Plains. Pueblo, CO noted a daily-record low of -13 degrees F on Friday, less than 24 hours after a high of 55 degrees F. Severe cold continued to grip International Falls, MN (-41 degrees F on January 26), where the low bottomed out below -30 degrees F for the eighth time this month. In contrast, Corpus Christi, TX registered a daily-record high of 84 degrees F. The late-week storm boosted monthly snowfall to record levels in Waterloo, IA (23.9 inches) and Rochester, MN (28.5 inches). On Friday, LaCrosse, WI measured a January 24-hour record total of 12.0 inches, while Des Moines, IA received a daily-record 13.7 inches. January 25-27 totals reached 24.8 inches in Marquette, MI, 18.8 inches in LaCrosse, and 13.4 inches in Rochester. Gale-force winds caused extensive blowing and drifting snow. Farther east, torrential rains on Friday in the Southeast produced a record January single-day rainfall in Birmingham, AL (4.71 inches), and daily records in numerous locations, including Jackson, MS (3.56 inches) and Montgomery, AL (2.88 inches). At week's end, more heavy rain caused additional flooding in the Northeast, though not nearly as severe as the January 19-21 event. On January 21, the Potomac River at Point of Rocks, MD crested at 20.5 feet above flood stage, the highest level since June 1972; a week later, the river exceeded flood stage by only a half-foot. Farther north, Burlington, VT tallied daily records on Saturday for rainfall (1.15 inches) and maximum temperature (53 degrees F). The storm also produced south- to southwesterly winds that gusted to 67 mph in Boston, MA, 60 mph in Bridgeport, CT, and 56 mph in Fort Wayne, IN. Elsewhere, bitterly cold air over Alaska shifted eastward, ending a 14-day spell (January 10-23) in Fairbanks with lows at or below -30 degrees F. In Hawaii, temperatures again averaged 2 to 5 degrees F above normal, but rainfall caused localized flooding. Hilo, Hawaii, recorded a weekly total of 7.51 inches, and Kailua, Oahu, received 9.20 inches in 24 hours on January 24-25.