Released December 9, 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 Rhonda Brandt at (202) 720-7621, office hours 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. National Agricultural Summary December 1 - 7, 1997 Highlights: An active storm track brought precipitation to the Southern United States, slowing fieldwork in many areas. In California and Arizona, rain caused localized flooding and wet soils, slowing cotton, fruit, and vegetable harvests as well as fall planting. In the southern Plains, showers slowed harvest of remaining cotton, sorghum, peanut, and soybean fields. Although limiting harvest activity, the rains provided needed moisture to the winter wheat crop. Some early-planted winter wheat fields were beginning to provide limited grazing. Fall harvest in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic States was hampered again as storms brought more showers to the region. In Florida, cold weather was beneficial to citrus trees by slowing growth, and citrus harvest was active. Despite snow and rain in the Great Lakes region and New England, some farmers harvested corn, though many growers were waiting for dry down. National Weather Summary Volume 84, No. 49 November 30 - December 6, 1997 For additional information, call (202) 720-7917. Highlights: Steered by the southern branch of a split jet stream, storms continued to track into California before heading across the Southern and Eastern States. Spells of wet weather reached 4 weeks in California and 8 weeks in parts of the Southeast. In contrast, dryness continued to develop on the northern Plains, where little precipitation has fallen since early October. After a brief absence, cold weather returned to many areas east of the Rockies late in the week. Weekly departures ranged from -12 degrees F in southern Colorado to +10 degrees F in northern Minnesota. Abundant snow showers accompanied the renewed chill across the Midwestern and Great Lakes States. In northern New England, a snowy November yielded to an early-December snow storm. In Vermont, 48-hour totals (November 30 - December 2) reached 13.1 inches in Canaan and 10.0 inches in Waitsfield. Farther south, Wilmington, NC netted a daily-record rainfall (2.26 inches) on Sunday. In the storm's wake on Tuesday, wind gusts were clocked to 44 mph in Brunswick, ME and 49 mph in Concord, NH. Another storm arrived in New England toward week's end, delivering 9.1 inches of snow to Caribou, ME on Saturday. Meanwhile, lake-enhanced snowfall boosted December 1-6 totals to 23.6 inches in Marquette, MI, 15.7 inches in Erie, PA, and 5.9 inches in South Bend, IN. By Saturday evening, storm totals downwind of Lake Erie reached 35.6 inches in Franklin Center, PA and 18.0 inches in Conneaut, OH. Rain spread onto the southern Plains on Tuesday, reaching the Southeast a day later. Heavy rain persisted across Peninsular Florida into December 4. Meanwhile, snow fell from the southern Rockies to the Midwest. In southern Colorado, 24-hour snowfall totaled 17 inches at Wolf Creek Pass on December 2-3. On Thursday, daily-record rainfalls in Florida included 2.99 inches in Key West and 1.61 inches in Orlando. Elsewhere across the Southeast, weekly rainfall topped 1 inch in locations such as Jackson, KY, Bristol, TN, and Norfolk, VA. Storms struck California early in the week and again at week's end. The latter system produced torrential rainfall in coastal southern California, causing localized flooding. In Goleta, near Santa Barbara, 48-hour rainfall on December 4-6 totaled 5.02 inches. Twenty-four hour totals on December 5-6 reached 6.00 inches in Newport Beach and 6.81 inches in Laguna Beach. Farther east, weekly rainfall of 0.95 inches in Tucson accounted for 11 percent of the year-to-date total and 8 percent of their normal annual precipitation. The next "Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin" report will be released at 12 p.m. ET on December 16, 1997. 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's TARGET Center at 202-720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint, write the Secretary of Agriculture, USDA, Washington, D.C., 20250, or call 1-800-245-6340 (voice) or 202-720-1127 (TDD). USDA is an equal employment opportunity employer. ACCESS TO REPORTS!! For your convenience, there are several ways to obtain NASS reports, data products, and services: INTERNET ACCESS All NASS reports are available free of charge on the worldwide Internet. 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