HDR1012000170100326961200WEEKLY WEATHER & CROP BULLETIN NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL SUMMARY March 18 - 24, 1996 HIGHLIGHTS: Scattered rain across the central Great Plains improved wheat condition, but more rain was needed. Cold, windy weather at midweek caused possible freeze damage to wheat in west-central Kansas, and caused leaf burn in the Texas High Plains. Seedbed preparation and small-grain development remained behind normal in Oklahoma and Kansas. In Texas, groundwork was ahead of normal due to chronic dry weather that has allowed producers to accelerate field activities, but some producers delayed planting and waited for rain. Cotton planting continued in south Texas, but the dry conditions have slowed germination and plant growth. More Texas wheat fields were plowed under and were replanted to spring crops as a result of the continued dry weather. In Kansas, wheat jointing was 1 percent (%) complete, 10 points behind the 5-year average of 11% and 24 points behind last year. Dry, warm weather in California allowed field activities to resume and improved growing conditions. National Weather Summary Volume 83, No. 12 March 17 - 23, 1996 For additional information, call (202) 720-7917. Highlights: A slow-moving spring storm delivered rain to wheat areas of central Oklahoma and northeastern Texas, dumped heavy snow in the Ohio Valley, and kept breezy, cool conditions in place east of the Rockies. Meanwhile in the West, warm, dry weather prevailed until week's end, when a storm system surged southeastward into the central Rockies. By Saturday, heavy snow overspread the northern Rockies and northern Plains, while rain showers developed in the Midwest. Early in the week, a developing storm over the southern Plains brought much-needed rainfall to parts of Oklahoma and Texas. In Oklahoma City, OK, 0.62 inches fell on March 17-18, boosting their year-to-date total to 0.72 inches, 17 percent (%) of normal. Similarly in Texas, storm totals of 0.37 inches in Wichita Falls and 0.53 inches in Dallas lifted their respective 1996 totals to 1.26 inches (33% of normal) and 1.85 inches (33% of normal). Most of Kansas, however, garnered less than a quarter-inch, while the Texas plains received little or no rainfall. In the central High Plains, meanwhile, March 17-18 snowfall totaled 5.5 inches in Lander, WY and 1.5 inches in Pueblo, CO. Between March 18 and 21, the storm tracked from the western Gulf Coast States to New England, producing heavy precipitation. Totals topped 2 inches in a few locations, including Baton Rouge, LA (3.34 inches) and Pittsburgh, PA (2.05 inches). The system also generated a line of severe thunderstorms on Monday, resulting in about a dozen tornadoes, including nine in Alabama. Farther west, northerly component winds in the cold front's wake gusted to 53 mph in Shreveport, LA and 52 mph in Abilene, TX. Heavy snow developed in the Ohio Valley on Tuesday, encompassing the central and southern Appalachians by midweek. March 19-21 totals reached 11.8 inches in Indianapolis, IN, 9.5 inches in Cleveland, OH, and 8.4 inches in Flint, MI. In eastern Tennessee, 18 inches accumulated atop Mt. Leconte. High winds, which gusted to 47 mph in Flint and 40 mph in Indianapolis, caused extensive blowing and drifting snow. Seasonal-record snowfall continued to mount in locations such as Jackson, KY (storm total 9.4 inches; seasonal total 61.5 inches) and Charleston, WV (9.7 inches; seasonal total 103.8 inches). With a 10.3-inch snowfall, Mansfield, OH became the latest location to break a seasonal record (83.3 inches), eclipsing 1977-78's total of 77.6 inches. On Sunday, fleeting warmth ahead of the storm's cold front pushed the temperature to a daily record of 90 degrees F in Brownsville, TX. More persistent warmth covered the West, where highs on Monday reached 70 degrees F as far north as Seattle, WA. After midweek, about a dozen daily-record lows were set from eastern Texas to the Carolinas, as sub-freezing temperatures again threatened sensitive-stage tree blooms. On Thursday, daily records in Texas included 25 degrees F in Waco and 30 degrees F in College Station; 2 days later, lows included 23 degrees F in Augusta, GA and 24 degrees F in Florence, SC. At week's end, warmth returned to the central and southern Plains on south- to-southwesterly winds that locally topped 50 mph. On Saturday, Garden City, KS (83 degrees F) tallied a daily-record high. Farther north, sharply colder air drove southward, and snowfall (through March 23) totaled 12.0 inches in Lander, WY, 10.4 inches in Butte, MT, and 9.3 inches in Bismarck, ND.