HDR1012000170100206961200WEEKLY WEATHER & CROP BULLETIN HDR2012000170100206961200NAT. AGRI. & Nat. Weth. SUM. NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL SUMMARY January 29 - February 4, 1996 HIGHLIGHTS: Winter wheat condition across the central Great Plains deteriorated as a result of late-week sub-zero temperatures. Dry soil conditions combined with windy weather further stressed winter wheat in the central and southern Great Plains. Inadequate snow cover in the central Great Plains allowed the cold blast and blowing soil to damage the unprotected wheat. The uneven snow cover was insufficient in the Ohio Valley to fully protect the wheat from the windy weather. Favorable weather early in the week helped Florida's citrus to begin forming pin head blooms. The late-week cold weather threatened Florida's newly formed citrus blooms. Florida's citrus harvest activity was very active and passed the halfway mark. Florida vegetable growers harvested some fruit to avoid damage from the cold winds on February 4 and near-freezing temperatures the following day. Growers sprinkled water on plants to form protective ice-caps, but strong winds thwarted the protective measure and caused damage to strawberries. The full extent of the damage cannot be determined. In the Northern States, adequate snow cover protected winter wheat from the bitter cold. Low temperatures in south Texas concerned vegetable and citrus producers, while freezing rain in central Texas threatened small grain fields and halted growth. Rain in California saturated fields and limited fieldwork. The wet conditions slowed wheat growth in central California. National Weather Summary Volume 83, No. 5 January 28 - February 3, 1996 For additional information, call (202) 720-7917. Highlights: Severe cold likely damaged the central Plains' already stressed and poorly insulated hard red winter wheat, as late-week temperatures bottomed out between -5 and -20 degrees F. Possible damage occurred to the Ohio Valley's soft red winter wheat, where temperatures on February 3 and 4 fell to 0 to -20 degrees F and snow cover amounted to an inch or less. Snow cover ranging from 3 to 15 inches largely insulated wheat in the Northwest and the northern Plains from lows that on Friday plunged to February records of -24 degrees F in Spokane, WA and -38 degrees F in Glasgow, MT. Farther south, late-week temperatures dipped to near freezing in southern Texas' lower Rio Grande Valley, while some areas from central Texas to southern Middle Atlantic States received damaging amounts of freezing rain. Meanwhile, snow blanketed a stripe from northern Texas to the northern Middle Atlantic region and southern New England. Prior to striking the Southeast, the system dropped much-needed rain on parts of the Southwest, including more than 2 inches at midweek in Los Angeles, CA. During the first half of the week, a storm crossed the Nation's northern tier, producing snow and allowing frigid air to push southward across the Northwestern and North-Central States. Snow fell at sea level in the Northwest, where 3.3 inches whitened Seattle, WA on January 28-29. Farther east, Williston, ND received 3.1 inches of snow on Sunday despite a high of -9 degrees F. Lake-enhanced snowfall buried Sault Sainte Marie, MI beneath a storm total of 18.5 inches, boosting their seasonal total to an all-time record 180.4 inches. The storm reached the Northeast on January 30-31, adding as much as 2 inches to all-time monthly record totals that reached 37.4 inches in Providence, RI and 38.9 inches in Harrisburg, PA. Similarly, the storm increased January-record snowfalls to 43.1 inches in Windsor Locks, CT and 39.8 inches in Boston, MA. Strong winds and warmth preceded the early-week storm's cold front. On Sunday, southerly winds gusted to 49 mph in Wichita, KS and Abilene, TX, while highs soared to 74 degrees F in Midland, TX and 65 degrees F in Dodge City, KS. Later in the day, however, cold air swept into the central Plains on northwesterly winds clocked to 59 mph in Dodge City and 52 mph in North Platte, NE. On Tuesday, highs remained below zero as far south as Omaha, NE (-1 degree F) and Dubuque, IA (-3 degrees F), while the first half-dozen of the outbreak's 175 daily-record lows (through February 3) were set in the northern Plains. In Montana, daily records included -37 degrees F in Miles City and Helena. Farther south, Houston, TX notched a daily-record-tying high of 82 degrees F. On Wednesday, the first of two Arctic airmasses cloaked areas from the Northwest to the Midwest, dropping lows to -17 degrees F in Yakima, WA and a daily record of -21 degrees F in Moline, IL. Arctic air reached western Oregon, borne on easterly wind gusts to 45 mph in Portland. A day later in Minnesota, the temperature struggled to reach -25 degrees F in International Falls, a February record. The second wave of cold overwhelmed the North-Central States on Friday, lowering the temperature to a State-record -60 degrees F in Tower, MN. Elsewhere in Minnesota, February records were established in International Falls (-45 degrees F), St. Cloud (-40 degrees F), and Duluth (-39 degrees F). A February record was also broken in Waterloo, IA (-31 degrees F). Meanwhile in Kansas, Concordia's daily-record low of -14 degrees F occurred despite the absence of snow cover. In eastern Tennessee, snow depths on Saturday morning stood at 12 inches in Crossville and 13 inches in Bristol. Farther east, 16 inches covered Lexington Park, MD. Elsewhere, storm-total snowfall included 4.6 inches in Amarillo, TX, 5.0 inches in Tulsa, OK, 11.1 inches in Charleston, WV, and 7.5 inches in New York City. Ice and snow accumulations totaled 0.4 inches in both Greenville-Spartanburg, SC and Atlanta, GA. Farther west, one of the coldest airmasses on record gripped the Midwest, resulting in a State-record-tying -35 degrees F low in Elizabeth, IL. In Wisconsin, Milwaukee's low of -26 degrees F tied their all-time record, while Madison's reading of -29 degrees F set their February record. February records were tied in LaCrosse, WI (-36 degrees F) and broken in Moline, IL (-28 degrees F). Farther south, wheat was subjected to daily-record cold in locations such as Springfield, IL (-19 degrees F), their fifth coldest morning on record, and Tribune, KS (-20 degrees F). Extreme southern Texas, however, escaped the severe freeze, as Brownsville's low fell only to 32 degrees F. (See next week's summary for additional cold-weather information, including Florida's February 5 freeze.)