HDR1012000170100416961200WEEKLY WEATHER & CROP BULLETIN NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL SUMMARY April 8 - 14, 1996 HIGHLIGHTS: Small grains continued to endure drought conditions in the Texas High Plains. Warm, windy weather in the Southwest and central Great Plains depleted soil moisture supplies. Beneficial rains fell over parts of Kansas, but more rain was needed. Heavy rains and thunderstorms over the Delta States slowed fieldwork. Rain pushed fieldwork behind schedule and caused flooding in the Red River Valley. Sugarcane producers in Louisiana reported losses from last month's freeze to second growth stubble. The recent cold snaps across the Southeast damaged the peach crop. Producers were uncertain about the extent of peach crop losses. SMALL GRAINS: The Nation's winter wheat crop was in mostly fair to poor condition, with 3 percent (%) of the acreage heading. In Kansas, wheat condition was mostly poor to fair. Winter wheat condition in Texas and Illinois was mostly poor to very poor. Winterkill and heaving in the middle Mississippi and Ohio Valleys adversely affected winter wheat. Scattered rain in Kansas did little to revive the wheat crop that was hurt by wind and low temperatures. Wheat progress in Kansas was behind normal due to cold weather and the continued lack of soil moisture. Insect activity remained active in southern Kansas. Wheat producers in the central Great Plains reported that wheat was beginning to grow, but wheat stands were thin. Wheat in the Ohio Valley was beginning to joint. Spring wheat seeding was 2% complete, up 1 percentage point from last week but 9 points below the 5-year average. Small grain planting in the Dakota's was 1 week behind normal due to saturated fields that limited fieldwork. Rain, snow, and cool soil temperatures prevented farmers from planting. Spring wheat planted in South Dakota was 2% complete, 24 points behind the average, while in Montana less than 1% of the acreage was seeded, 17 points behind the average. Corn planted was 4% complete for the 17 major producing States, identical to last year on this date and the average. Low soil temperatures in the Midwest limited corn planting, with the majority of producers waiting for warmer weather before seeding. Cool, wet soils in the Ohio Valley slowed field preparation and delayed planting. Unseasonably cold weather in the Great Lakes Region restricted pre-planting activities. Favorable weather in Missouri allowed farmers to plant 18% of the corn crop, 5 points ahead of the average. Cotton planting was 8% complete, up 3 points from last week but 1 point behind the average for the Nation. Cotton planting in California was 20% complete, up 10 points from last week but 6 points behind the average. Dry weather in California allowed cotton planting to gain momentum, with early-planted fields beginning to emerge. New Mexico cotton planting was 5% complete, 11 points behind the average. Texas cotton planting progressed to 12% complete, up 2 points from last week. Field preparations continued in the Texas Plains, but cotton growth was slowed on early-planted fields. Cotton planting was slowed in the Southeastern States by wet fields and below-normal temperatures. Sorghum planting was 14% complete for the 12 major producing States, up 2 points from last week but 1 point below the average. Planting resumed in Texas, with some reports that producers were planting sorghum instead of corn due to the continued dry conditions. Rice seeding was 25% complete, 4 points ahead of the average for the 5 major producing States. Louisiana rice planting was 54% complete, up 23 points from last week and 10 points ahead of the average. Louisiana producers reported that rice was slow to emerge due to low temperatures. Texas rice planting was 61% complete, 19 points ahead of the average. Producers continued flushing emerged rice fields. National Weather Summary Volume 83, No. 15 April 7 - 13, 1996 For additional information, call (202) 720-7917. Highlights: Dryness continued through a 28th week in Texas' northern panhandle, aggravated by a late-week storm that produced wind gusts in excess of 50 mph. Farther north, the storm delivered the month's first significant precipitation to parts of Kansas and ended a midweek warm spell that elevated temperatures into the 90's as far north as central South Dakota. Snowmelt pushed the Red River (North Dakota/Minnesota border) into a spring flood, with rapid rises noted at week's end. Meanwhile, heavy precipitation and cool weather delayed fieldwork and crop development in the Delta and the Northeast. Frost and sub-freezing temperatures cloaked the interior Southeast on April 10-11. Farther north, heavy snow blanketed the Northeast on April 7-8 and 9-10, further boosting seasonal record totals. Early-week warmth spread eastward from the Northwest, reaching the Plains by April 10-11. More than six dozen daily-record highs were established, in contrast to about 30 record lows in the East during the same 5-day period. On Sunday, highs reached 83 degrees F in Medford, OR and 78 degrees F in Seattle, WA. A day later, records included 82 degrees F in Boise, ID and 93 degrees F in St. George, UT. In Hawaii, Honolulu notched 90 degrees F, an April record and their fifth of six consecutive daily records. Meanwhile, snowfall on April 7-8 reached 6.1 inches in Binghamton, NY, 4.8 inches in Concord, NH, and 3.6 inches in Providence, RI. Snow returned to the Northeast before midweek, dumping another 4 to 14 inches of snow from central Pennsylvania to Maine. April 9-10 amounts included 14.0 inches in Worcester, MA, 11.3 inches in Bridgeport, CT, and 9.5 inches in Concord, NH. Monthly snowfall reached 9.7 inches in Providence, RI and 23.6 inches at the Blue Hill Observatory (near Boston, MA), establishing April records. Seasonal snowfall records were eclipsed on April 8 in Binghamton, NY (132.0 inches), and on April 10 at Blue Hill (143.8 inches), Worcester (132.9 inches), and Bridgeport (76.8 inches). Farther west, daily-record lows on Tuesday included 22 degrees F in Springfield, IL and 25 degrees F in Evansville, IN. A day later, lows dipped into the 20's as far south as Florence, SC (27 degrees F) and Augusta, GA (28 degrees F). In Florida, Tallahassee's low of 31 degrees F on April 11 marked their second-latest freeze on record. On Wednesday, Pierre, SD tallied 94 degrees F; a day later, highs in Nebraska reached 93 degrees F at both Omaha and Lincoln. But the arrival of stormy, cool weather in Montana left 1.24 inches of precipitation and an 8-inch snow cover in Great Falls on Thursday morning. Toward week's end, snowfall became widespread north of a developing storm system over the central Plains. Another 12.4 inches blanketed Marquette, MI (seasonal total 225.7 inches), while 2.0 inches fell in Duluth, MN (all-time record seasonal total of 133.1 inches). Rain changed to snow across the central Plains on Saturday evening, with 2.0 inches noted at North Platte, NE by midnight. By storm's end on Sunday, 1.05 inches of precipitation--including 3.6 inches of snow--dampened Goodland, KS, accounting for 63 percent of their year-to-date total. But in northern Texas, Amarillo's driest 194-day period (October 3, 1995 to April 13, 1996) on record yielded a mere 1.22 inches of precipitation, 24 percent of normal and far below the former record of 1.70 inches, set from October 1955 to April 1956. In addition, southwesterly wind gusts across the Texas plains reached 51 mph at Lubbock on Saturday. Across the southern half of Texas, highs at week's end reached 101 degrees F in Laredo, 95 degrees F in San Antonio, and a daily-record 92 degrees F in Houston. Farther east, late-week rainfall topped an inch from the Ouachita highlands southeastward to the Delta, including 1.60 inches in Little Rock, AR and 2.28 inches in Baton Rouge, LA. Released April 15, 1996, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture. For information on "Crop Progress" call Greg Preston at (202) 720-7621, office hours 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET. For assistance with general agricultural statistics, information about NASS, its products or services, contact the NASS Information Hotline at 1-800-727-9540 or E-mail: NASS@NASS.USDA.GOV. Corn: Percent Planted, Winter Wheat: Percent Headed, Selected States Selected States -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- : Week Ending : : Week Ending : :-----------------------: 1991- :-----------------------: 1991- State:Apr 14,:Apr 7, :Apr 14,: 1995 State:Apr 14,:Apr 7, :Apr 14,: 1995 : 1996 : 1996 : 1995 : Avg. : 1996 : 1996 : 1995 : Avg. -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- : Percent : Percent : : CO : 0 0 1 1 AR : 5 NA NA NA GA : 71 46 90 79 CA : 70 NA NA NA IL : 3 0 1 2 CO : 0 NA NA NA IN : 0 0 1 0 GA : 18 NA NA NA IA : 0 0 0 1 ID : 0 NA NA NA KS : 6 1 4 9 IL : 0 NA NA NA KY : 2 0 32 9 IN : 0 NA NA NA MI : 0 0 0 0 KS : 0 NA NA NA MN : 0 0 0 0 MI : 0 NA NA NA MO : 18 2 19 13 MO : 0 NA NA NA NE : 0 0 0 0 MT : 0 NA NA NA NC : 29 12 45 33 NE : 0 NA NA NA OH : 1 0 1 1 NC : 7 NA NA NA PA : 0 0 0 0 OH : 0 NA NA NA SD : 0 0 0 0 OK : 1 NA NA NA TX : 55 52 51 55 OR : 0 NA NA NA WI : 0 0 0 0 SD : 0 NA NA NA : TX : 10 NA NA NA 17 Sts: 4 2 4 4 WA : 0 NA NA NA -------------------------------------- : These 17 States produced 91% of the 19 Sts: 3 NA NA NA 1995 corn crop. -------------------------------------- These 19 States produced 92% of the 1995 winter wheat crop. Cotton: Percent Planted, Spring Wheat: Percent Planted, Selected States Selected States -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- : Week Ending : : Week Ending : :-----------------------: 1991- :-----------------------: 1991- State:Apr 14,:Apr 7, :Apr 14,: 1995 State:Apr 14,:Apr 7, :Apr 14,: 1995 : 1996 : 1996 : 1995 : Avg. : 1996 : 1996 : 1995 : Avg. -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- : Percent : Percent : : AL : 10 1 9 7 ID : 56 22 40 45 AZ : 40 32 41 35 MN : 0 0 0 7 AR : 1 0 1 0 MT : 0 0 4 17 CA : 20 10 16 26 ND : 0 0 0 5 GA : 1 0 3 3 SD : 2 1 1 26 LA : 1 0 4 2 : MS : 1 0 5 3 5 Sts : 2 1 2 11 MO : 0 0 0 0 -------------------------------------- NM : 5 0 5 16 These 5 States produced 96% of the NC : 0 0 1 1 1995 spring wheat crop. OK : 0 0 0 0 SC : 2 0 2 1 TN : 0 0 1 1 Rice: Percent Planted, TX : 12 10 12 13 Selected States : -------------------------------------- 14 Sts: 8 5 8 9 : Week Ending : -------------------------------------- :-----------------------: 1991- These 14 States produced 99% of the State:Apr 14,:Apr 7, :Apr 14,: 1995 1995 cotton crop. : 1996 : 1996 : 1995 : Avg. -------------------------------------- : Percent Sorghum: Percent Planted, : Selected States AR : 11 1 24 14 -------------------------------------- CA : 0 0 0 0 : Week Ending : LA : 54 31 50 44 :-----------------------: 1991- MS : 30 1 40 21 State:Apr 14,:Apr 7, :Apr 14,: 1995 TX : 61 45 44 42 : 1996 : 1996 : 1995 : Avg. : -------------------------------------- 5 Sts : 25 11 29 21 : Percent -------------------------------------- : These 5 States produced 96% of the AR : 14 6 14 13 1995 rice crop. CO : 0 0 0 0 IL : 0 0 0 0 KS : 0 0 0 0 LA : 10 1 15 17 MS : 20 6 28 20 MO : 0 0 1 0 NE : 0 0 0 0 NM : 0 0 0 0 OK : 0 0 8 2 SD : 0 0 0 0 TX : 45 41 47 51 : 12 Sts: 14 12 15 15 -------------------------------------- These 12 States produced 98% of the 1995 sorghum crop. Barley: Percent Planted, Selected States -------------------------------------- : Week Ending : :-----------------------: 1991- State:Apr 14,:Apr 7, :Apr 14,: 1995 : 1996 : 1996 : 1995 : Avg. -------------------------------------- : Percent : ID : 31 NA NA NA MN : 0 NA NA NA MT : 0 NA NA NA ND : 0 NA NA NA SD : 0 NA NA NA WA : 0 NA NA NA : 6 Sts : 4 NA NA NA -------------------------------------- These 6 States produced 82% of the 1995 barley crop. Oats: Percent Planted, Selected States -------------------------------------- : Week Ending : :-----------------------: 1991- State:Apr 14,:Apr 7, :Apr 14,: 1995 : 1996 : 1996 : 1995 : Avg. -------------------------------------- : Percent : IA : 33 NA NA NA MI : 0 NA NA NA MN : 0 NA NA NA NE : 51 NA NA NA ND : 0 NA NA NA OH : 0 NA NA NA PA : 13 NA NA NA SD : 4 NA NA NA WI : 1 NA NA NA : 9 Sts : 10 NA NA NA -------------------------------------- These 9 States produced 56% of the 1995 oat crop. Winter Wheat: Crop Condition by Percent, Selected States -------------------------------------- State : VP : P : F : G : EX -------------------------------------- : Percent : AR : 1 6 27 56 10 CA : 0 0 15 55 30 CO : 14 18 39 25 4 GA : 1 6 25 62 6 ID : 0 1 8 58 33 IL : 31 32 29 7 1 IN : 19 33 37 11 0 KS : 23 34 31 12 0 MI : 8 10 21 51 10 MO : 17 35 33 14 1 MT : 0 4 25 59 12 NE : 11 29 46 14 0 NC : 0 13 20 47 20 OH : 9 19 45 24 3 OK : 20 35 34 11 0 OR : 0 0 3 46 51 SD : 3 20 44 31 2 TX : 25 45 22 8 0 WA : 0 0 8 61 31 : 19 Sts : 16 27 30 22 5 : Prev Wk : 15 25 33 22 5 Prev Yr : 2 8 32 47 11 --------------------------------------