HDR1012000170100304971200WEEKLY WEATHER & CROP BULLETIN Released March 4, 1997, 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 February 24 - March 2, 1997 Highlights: Heavy rains, the resulting flooding, and muddy fields delayed field activities in an area from the Texas coast to the Ohio Valley and most of the Southeast. The Ohio Valley was the hardest-hit area and received over 10 inches of rainfall, causing local flood damage. Farmers in the Dakotas and Minnesota continued to struggle with deep snow and cold weather. The deep snow pack generated concerns for the possibility of flooding when the spring thaw starts. The winter wheat areas of southern Nebraska, Kansas, and eastern Colorado received beneficial moisture during the week, and producers were reporting the crop to be in mostly good to excellent condition. Very little winter damage has been reported. In Florida, field preparations for spring-planted crops were active, as most of last week's heavy rains missed the Florida peninsula. Livestock producers in most areas of the country have experienced either excessively wet or cold weather, adding pressure to short feed supplies and causing difficult birthing conditions. National Weather Summary Volume 84, No. 9 February 23 - March 1, 1997 For additional information, call (202) 720-7917. HIGHLIGHTS: Energetic and moisture-laden storms continued to traverse the southern branch of a split jet stream for the fourth consecutive week. Severe flooding developed in the lower and middle Ohio Valley, where 24-hour rainfall locally topped 10 inches at week's end. On March 1, a tornado outbreak left 24 people dead in Arkansas, equaling the U.S. tornado toll for all of 1996. Additional rainfall aggravated earlier flooding in parts of the Midwest and the central Gulf Coast States. Beneficial precipitation, however, further reduced the effects of nearly 3 months of dry weather on the central Plains. In the East, where weekly temperatures average 3 to 10 degrees F above normal, warmth toppled nearly five dozen daily-record highs and a handful of February records. In contrast, temperatures averaged up to 10 degrees F below normal in the western half of the Nation. In the Southwest, sub-zero temperatures occurred at week's end in the wake of a major snowstorm. Cold weather also returned to the North Central States, maintaining the deep snowpack. On Sunday, the Rock River at Joslin, IL crested at a record 6.77 feet above flood stage. In Henry, IL, the Illinois River crested at more than 6 feet above flood stage on Tuesday, only to rise again in the wake of back-to-back storms, finally leveling off at around 8.2 feet above flood stage on March 2. Farther west, snow blanketed formerly dry areas of the central High Plains, accumulating by Monday morning to a depth of 10 inches in Goodland, KS, 8 inches in Lamar, CO, and 6 inches in McCook, NE. Meanwhile, heavy rain developed across the central Gulf Coast States on February 24-25, resulting in 24-hour totals of 3.90 inches in Leesville, LA and 2.24 inches in McComb, MS. At midweek, heavy rain returned to areas from the middle Mississippi Valley to the northern Middle Atlantic region, totaling 1 to 3 inches. In Texas, light rain padded February-record totals in Waco (7.91 inches), Dallas-Ft. Worth (7.40 inches), and San Angelo (4.54 inches). In Peoria, IL, monthly precipitation totaled 5.49 inches, 0.15 inches shy of their February record, set in 1900. On Wednesday, Ft. Myers, FL notched their first of four consecutive daily-record highs (87, 89, 88, and 89 degrees F). A day later, warmth exploded across the East, resulting in February records in Florence, SC (86 degrees F), Harrisburg, PA (78 degrees F), and Bridgeport, CT (67 degrees F). In Pennsylvania, Philadelphia's high of 74 degrees F was their third warmest in February, and helped to put the finishing touches on their first February without sub-20 degree weather since 1957. On Saturday, more than two dozen daily records were broken across the Southeast, including highs of 80 degrees F in Tupelo, MS, Huntsville, AL, and Atlanta, GA. In Bristol, TN (81 degrees F), the mercury surpassed 80 degrees F on the earliest calendar date on record. On February 27-28, a major snowstorm struck the Southwest. Twenty-four hour snowfall reached 33 inches on Grand Mesa, CO, near Grand Junction, and 30 inches on Mt. Lemmon, AZ, near Tucson. Mt. Lemmon also received 49 inches in 48 hours en route to a storm's-end snow depth of 69 inches. The storm boosted weekly snowfall to 66 inches at Brian Head, UT. On Saturday, the low in Flagstaff, AZ dipped to -10 degrees F. As the storm progressed eastward, violent thunderstorms erupted on Saturday across the South. In addition to the Arkansas fatalities, which represented the State's greatest 1-day tornado death toll since May 15, 1968, there was one wind-related death in Tennessee, and two apiece in Texas and Mississippi. An all-time-record, 24-hour total of 10.48 inches deluged Louisville, KY on Saturday, breaking a record that had stood since March 9, 1964. In Lexington, KY, the 5.56-inch total was second all-time, behind a 8.04-inch total on August 2, 1932. Storm-total rainfall ranged from 4 to 10 inches throughout the lower and middle Ohio Valley, causing serious flooding. By March 2 and 3, record flooding struck Rolling Fork at Boston, KY, and the Little Kanawha River from Grantsville to Elizabeth, WV, while major rises pushed the middle Ohio River well above flood stage from the Ohio-West Virginia border downstream. Meanwhile, snow developed across the North Central States, accumulating up to 10 inches in parts of Minnesota. Very mild air encompassed Alaska, with weekly temperatures 23 degrees F above normal in McGrath. Cold Bay posted three consecutive daily-record highs on February 24-26 (47, 46, and 46 degrees F), but also clocked a February-record wind gust to 86 mph on Monday. In Kodiak, a streak of 35 days in a row with measurable precipitation, their third longest on record, ended on Thursday. Meanwhile in Hawaii, a westward-moving storm dumped heavy rain and high-elevation snow on the Big Island. 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