Released January 21, 1998, 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 (202) 720-7621, office hours 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. National Agricultural Summary January 12 - 18, 1998 Highlights: Mild temperatures prevailed over most of the United States, except for early-week bitterly cold temperatures along the Northern Tier States and upper Midwest. New England farmers, especially dairymen, had difficulty recovering from the previous week's severe ice storm. Field activities along the Pacific Coast were hampered again this week by an onslaught of storms bringing snow, ice, and rain. In northern California, over 4 inches of rain fell in many locations, halting fieldwork. The preparation for, and planting of, spring vegetable crops continued where weather and soils permitted. The storms tracked eastward, bringing precipitation into the central and northern Rocky Mountains States. Little precipitation fell in the Plains while limited amounts fell in the Corn Belt. High winds sapped soil moisture in some parts of the southern Plains, but most areas still have ample moisture supplies. On the Texas High Plains, adequate moisture from previous rainfall and mild temperatures prompted good winter wheat growth, and most fields provided excellent grazing. In the Southeast, wet weather continued as storms again brought precipitation to the region, especially in eastern Louisiana, where month-to-date rainfall totals over 600 percent of the normal amount in New Orleans. Late-week rain fell in all Florida citrus areas and slowed some harvest crews. Wet fields continued to delay some field preparations for spring vegetable planting. National Weather Summary Volume 85, No. 3 January 11 - 17, 1998 For additional information, call (202) 720-7917. Highlights: Arctic air made its strongest push of the winter into the northern Plains, Northwest, and upper Midwest, while a series of storms dropped heavy precipitation from Washington to central California. The storms later traversed the Southeastern and Atlantic Coast States, resulting in cloudy, mild weather with periods of rain and snow. Weekly temperatures ranged from 2 to 13 degrees F below normal in the areas engulfed by cold air, but averaged up to 9 degrees F above normal in the Southeast and as much as 11 degrees F above normal in the West. Early in the week, Pacific moisture overran Arctic air entrenched across the Northwest, resulting in snow and freezing rain. January 9-11 snowfall totaled 17 inches in The Dalles, OR, 13 inches in Enterprise, OR, and 11 inches near Centralia, WA. On Monday in Oregon, Portland's high of 28 degrees F was their lowest on record for the date. Snow also fell across winter wheat areas of eastern Washington, but only after low temperatures ranged from -5 to 5 degrees F on January 11-12. Spokane, WA registered -2 degrees F on Monday. The procession of storms gradually eroded the cold air, changing snow to heavy rain. Yakima, WA recorded 1.84 inches for the week, 23 percent (%) of their normal annual total. Along the Oregon coastline on Wednesday, wind gusts were clocked to 82 mph on Cape Blanco. Farther south, very heavy precipitation belted northern and central California. Along the coast, Eureka received 4.59 inches during the week. January 11-17 totals reached 12.87 inches at Blue Canyon (central Sierra Nevada foothills) and 9.33 inches at Shasta Dam, near Redding. Farther east, 4 to 8 inches of rain soaked the central Gulf Coast region. Through January 17, month-to-date rainfall reached 16.04 inches (605% of normal) in New Orleans, LA and 13.52 inches (524%) in Mobile, AL. Additional wet weather in central Florida was highlighted by a daily-record total (2.55 inches on Thursday) in Daytona Beach. Meanwhile, Baltimore, MD also notched a daily-record rainfall (1.06 inches) for January 15. Inland, up to a half-inch of ice accumulated from the Middle Atlantic States to southern New England. Meanwhile, January 16-17 snowfall totaled 10 inches in Haverhill, MA, and 11 inches at both Burlington, VT and Lake Placid, NY. During the same period, a small portion of the northern Delta also saw heavy snow, with up to 7 inches in northern Mississippi. By Friday morning, snow depths stood at 3 inches in Memphis, TN and Tupelo, MS. In Little Rock, AR, no sun shone on 9 consecutive days from January 6-14. In addition, Little Rock's temperature averaged 9.8 degrees F above normal during the first 2 weeks of January, remaining above freezing during that period for the first time since 1907. In Oklahoma, Tulsa weathered 10 consecutive days without any sunshine, their longest such period this half-century. The record had been 9 days, set from January 25 - February 2, 1983. Oklahoma City experienced only 28 minutes of sun from January 4-14, their least during any 11-day period on record. Both Oklahoma City and Tulsa recorded less than 5% of the possible sunshine during the first 2 weeks of January. Farther north, the early-week cold blast gradually subsided. Nevertheless, lows in Montana on Monday plummeted to -40 degrees F in Jordan and -35 degrees F, a daily record, in Miles City. Snow cover on the northern Plains' winter wheat generally ranged from 2 to 4 inches during the coldest weather. On January 11-12, temperatures dipped below 0 degrees F as far south and east as southern Nebraska, southern Iowa, and northern Illinois, the lowest in many cases since late-January 1997. Meanwhile, cold weather eased in Alaska, where weekly departures ranged from -5 to +8 degrees F, and dry weather continued in Hawaii, allowing for large temperature swings. In Honolulu, where December 1 - January 17 rainfall was only 1.19 inches (20% of normal), readings ranged from a daily-record low (59 degrees F) on Sunday to a daily-record high (87 degrees F) on Thursday. Note: US level crop conditions are weighted averages based on 1997 planted acres for the selected states. The next "Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin" report will be released at 12 p.m. ET on January 27, 1998. 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. 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