HDR1012000170101224961200WEEKLY WEATHER & CROP BULLETIN Released December 24, 1996, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture. For information on "Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin" call Greg Preston at (202) 720-7621, office hours 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. For assistance with general agricultural statistics, information about NASS, its products or services, contact the Agricultural Statistics Hotline at 1-800-727-9540 or E-mail: NASS@NASS.USDA.GOV. NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL SUMMARY December 16 - 22, 1996 HIGHLIGHTS: Low temperatures on December 20 in Florida's citrus belt did not cause any significant damage because wind prevented frost. The cold weather slowed Florida's citrus trees' rate of growth and allowed them to become somewhat dormant, further protecting the trees from future freezes. Most vegetables in south Florida were undamaged by the cold weather due to the short duration of the freezing temperatures, but a hard frost farther north brought an end to harvest activity. Heavy rain returned to California at week's end, causing flooding and disrupting fieldwork. Below-freezing temperatures in parts of south Texas and Louisiana burned some crops' leaves. Sugarcane producers intended to complete the harvest of frost-damaged sugarcane within 2 weeks. A blizzard across the upper Great Plains and Great Lakes region threatened livestock but provided adequate snowcover for small grains. Precipitation early in the week from the Delta to the Tennessee Valley delayed the completion of the cotton harvest. Patchy snowcover in parts of the central Great Plains, combined with very low temperatures, threatened some winter wheat. We 1 (12-96) National Weather Summary Volume 83, No. 51 December 15 - 21, 1996 For additional information, call (202) 720-7917. Highlights: Very cold air spilled southward through the Plains and to the Gulf Coast, delivering a hard freeze to Louisiana's sugarcane areas and sub-freezing temperatures to south Texas' sugarcane- and citrus-producing region. In Florida, only northernmost citrus and vegetable areas were exposed to a minor freeze. Meanwhile, the Plains' winter wheat experienced varying degrees of stress, due to patchy snow cover, as low temperatures ranged from -10 degrees to 5 degrees F. The high-pressure system responsible for the week-long chill drifted to the East Coast by Saturday, replaced by a renewed barrage of Pacific storminess. Extremely heavy snow buried parts of the West at week's end. Early in the week, snow and wind chills below -50 degrees F plagued the northern Plains. All of North Dakota was placed under a blizzard warning on Tuesday, the first such occurrence since December 24-25, 1983. Storm-total reached 8.3 inches in Fargo, ND, while winds gusted to 61 mph in Rapid City, SD. Farther south, strong winds twice buffeted southern California. On Laguna Peak, separate Santa Ana events produced gusts to 76 mph on Sunday and 66 mph on Tuesday. Meanwhile, rain and wet snow fell in the East. On December 15-16, a narrow band of heavy snow fell from the Bootheel of Missouri to eastern Michigan, boosting the weekly total to 8.0 inches in Indianapolis, IN. Rainfall topped 2 inches in a strip from eastern Texas to the lower Ohio Valley, including Galveston, TX and Bowling Green, KY. Snow returned to the East on December 18-19, falling as far south as the Gulf Coast from eastern Louisiana to western Florida. Totals reached 2.0 inches in Montgomery, AL and Greenville-Spartanburg, SC. Farther north, 6.0 inches blanketed Burlington, VT. Heavy accumulations of lake-effect snow occurred after midweek. In the Lake Superior snow belt, Marquette, MI received 25.1 inches during the week; more than 30 inches fell in isolated spots downwind of Lakes Erie and Ontario. Cold air resulted in about 50 daily-record lows from the central and southern Plains to the Southeast from December 17-21. On Wednesday, lows in Colorado plunged to -11 degrees F in Colorado Springs and -19 degrees F in Pueblo. A day later, readings in western Kansas dipped to -8 degrees F in Garden City and -9 degrees F (not a record) in Goodland. Farther south, a minimum of 21 degrees F in Corpus Christi was their lowest since December 22, 1989. Lows in Texas' Rio Grande Valley fell to 28 degrees F in McAllen and 23 degrees F in Rio Grande City. Brownsville's low of 29 degrees F marked their first such reading since December 23, 1990. Phoenix, AZ (34 degrees F) and Midland, TX (10 degrees F) also withstood their greatest onslaught of cold weather in nearly 6 years. In California's San Joaquin Valley, Bakersfield's low bottomed out at 32 degrees F on December 19. Farther east, highs failed to reach the freezing mark on Thursday as far south as Montgomery, AL (31 degrees F). The next morning, daily-record lows in Louisiana included 18 degrees F in Baton Rouge and 21 degrees F in Lake Charles. In Florida, both Tampa and Orlando recorded 34 degrees F. Friday's highs in Florida struggled to 44 degrees F in Tampa and 58 degrees F in Key West. Daily records on Saturday included lows of 7 degrees F at both Asheville, NC and Bristol, TN. In contrast, Portland, ME posted its warmest December 1-20 on record (8.2 degrees F above normal). Toward week's end, heavy precipitation overspread the West. In Boise, ID, 9.8 inches of snow fell on December 20-21, their fifth-heaviest 24-hour event on record and greatest since February 14-15, 1949. Another 15.2 inches fell in Kalispell, MT, including 10.2 inches on Saturday, boosting their monthly total to 23.4 inches and seasonal amount to 73.2 inches. After a 1-week lull, northern California again became the focus of heavy rain and snow. At Blue Canyon, a 6.22-inch liquid equivalent fell (as snow) in 48 hours on December 20-22, raising their monthly total to 26.10 inches. In the central Sierra Nevada, 24-hour snowfall rates topped 3 feet on December 20-21 (Incline Village, NV received 40 inches), and storm totals reached 4 to 8 feet. By Saturday night, heavy snow spread toward the central Rockies. The next "Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin" report will be released at 12 P.M. ET on December 31, 1996. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in its programs on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, and marital or familial status. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact the USDA Office of Communications at (202) 720-5881 (voice) or (202) 720-7808 (TDD). 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