Released February 10, 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 February 2 - 8, 1998 Highlights: Temperatures were unseasonably mild across the Nation, benefiting livestock, especially in the Northern Tier States. Early-week snow fell in an area extending from Kansas to northern Michigan. The Plains remained relatively dry, especially in northern, areas where little precipitation has fallen the past 4 months. Mild temperatures kept winter wheat in mostly good condition in the southern Plains. Severe storms were concentrated in California and the Southeast as mild temperatures dominated the rest of the United States. A barrage of storms caused flooding, strong winds and heavy rainfall in California. Progress of field activities was severely curtailed in most areas. Many low-lying fields were in standing water in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys. Strong winds uprooted some almond trees. Grapefruit, lemon, navel orange, and tangerine harvests were active where weather permitted, but high winds and rain resulted in heavy fruit drop in some areas. In Florida, wet weather delayed land preparation for spring field crops. Strong winds tossed vegetables, cold weather slowed some plant growth, and wet soils delayed some vegetable fieldwork. Cool weather slowed new growth and bloom bud in citrus areas. Elsewhere in the Southeast, the second major "nor'easter" in 2 weeks kept farmers out of fields and caused flooding in some areas. As the storm moved northward, heavy rains caused flooding in the middle Atlantic States and record-setting snowfall in the middle Ohio Valley. National Weather Summary Volume 85, No. 6 February 1 - 7, 1998 For additional information, call (202) 720-7917. Highlights: While a Pacific storm chain battered the West Coast, another major storm in the Southeast dumped record snowfall in the Ohio Valley and sparked damaging winds in Peninsular Florida. Both the West and East Coasts endured heavy surf and erosion, and inland areas experienced flooding of varying degrees. In contrast, dry, mild weather prevailed in the northern and central Plains and New England. Drier-than-normal conditions have persisted on the northern Plains for 4 months. Weekly temperatures averaged above normal nearly nationwide, ranging from 3 to 18 degrees F above normal on the northern Plains. Departures reached +12 degrees F in the Northwest and +10 degrees F in the Northeast. During the 264-hour (11-day) period ending at 4 p.m. PST on February 8, rainfall in the San Francisco Bay area reached 14.57 inches at the Marin Civic Center, 14.34 inches in Kentfield, 11.79 inches in Santa Rosa, and 11.12 inches in downtown San Francisco. On Monday, wind gusts were clocked to 81 mph in coastal San Mateo County (Pigeon Point) and 56 mph in Bakersfield. A day later, a record flood (1.8 feet above flood stage) occurred on the Pajaro River at Chittenden, surpassing the April 1958 record by 0.7 feet. The Napa and Russian Rivers also crested on Tuesday at most gauging points. The Napa River at St. Helena peaked at 3.6 feet above flood stage, but 1.9 feet below the record set in February 1986 and March 1995. Similarly, the Russian River at Guerneville crested about 6.6 feet above flood stage, but more than 10 feet below the February 1986 high-water mark. Late-week rains brought renewed rises to many rivers. On Saturday, the gauge at Guerneville recorded a crest at 4.0 feet above flood stage. The late-week storms also delivered another round of high winds, which on Friday gusted to 94 mph on Cooskie Mountain, south of Eureka. The 11-day precipitation in California's foothills included 14.54 inches at Blue Canyon, 13.88 inches in Mount Shasta, and 11.33 inches in Redding. In the Sierra Nevada, water content of the snow pack increased to 30 inches (147 percent [%] of normal) by February 8, up from 20 inches (107%) at the end of January and 9 inches (74%) on January 1. February 2-3 snowfall rates reached 37 inches in 24 hours in Crestview, CA. Storminess spread into the Southwest by midweek, resulting in 2.44 inches of rain near Laughlin, NV and 36 inches of snow on Mt. Lemmon, AZ, near Tucson. Meanwhile in southern California, January 28 - February 8 (264-hour) rainfall included 13.52 inches in Ventura, 12.56 inches in Oxnard, and 11.58 inches in Santa Barbara. In addition, winds on the night of February 2-3 were clocked to 86 mph in Lompoc and 78 mph in Cuyama. Southern California's most serious flash flooding occurred on February 2-3 and 6-8. In the East, a slow-moving storm developed in the Gulf of Mexico early in the week, finally departing the Mid-Atlantic Coast on Friday. Another system crossed Florida toward week's end. The first storm affected areas as far east as Puerto Rico, where localized wind damage and 5- to 8-inch rainfalls were reported on February 4-5. On Wednesday, Norfolk, VA netted a single-day, February-record rainfall of 5.34 inches. Farther south, Jacksonville, FL measured a February-record barometric pressure of 29.24 inches (990 millibars). With 2 to 6 inches of rain falling on already saturated soils, minor to moderate flooding occurred in most river basins of the Southeast. In Virginia on Friday, the James River at Richmond (City Locks) crested at 6.4 feet above flood stage, while the Roanoke River at Randolph peaked at nearly 5.1 feet above flood stage. On Monday night, severe thunderstorms crossed Florida. Winds gusted to 104 mph in Miami, 90 mph in Hollywood, and 66 mph in Homestead. A gust to 98 mph was clocked on Duck Key. In central Florida, gusts reached 44 mph in St. Petersburg and Winter Haven. After the low-pressure system's passage, strong westerly winds, gusting as high as 50 mph, continued to rake the Peninsula through February 4. Farther north, northeasterly winds on Wednesday gusted to 67 mph in North Wildwood, NJ and on Cape Henry, VA. The same day, tides ranged from 4.5 to 5.4 feet above normal along the Delaware and southern New Jersey Coasts, breaching some protective dunes. Seas reached 24 feet at a buoy near the mouth of the Delaware River. Meanwhile, the storm produced record snowfall in the middle Ohio Valley. February 4-6 snowfall totaled 22.4 inches in Louisville, KY and 18.5 inches in Cincinnati, OH, setting single-storm records in both locations. With 17.2 inches, Lexington, KY set a February-record total. Elsewhere, storm-total snowfall included 12.2 inches in Evansville, IN, 13.0 inches in Beckley, WV, and 17.6 inches in Jackson, KY. Aside from the coastal storms, highlights included early-week snow in the western Great Lakes region, continued dryness (for 4 months) on the northern Plains, and late-week warmth in the Northwest. On Friday, daily-record highs in Oregon included 67 degrees F in Salem and 65 degrees F in Florence. Very mild weather prevailed in Alaska (except the Aleutians), as temperatures averaged 9 to 21 degrees F above normal. In contrast, very cool and continued dry weather blanketed Hawaii. Lows of 53 degrees F in Kahului on Tuesday and 56 degrees F in Honolulu on Friday were records for their respective dates. During the first 38 days of the year, rainfall in Hilo totaled 0.18 inches, less than 2% of normal. 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 February 17, 1998. 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