Released April 14, 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 Mark E. Miller (202) 720-7621, office hours 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. National Agricultural Summary April 6 - April 12, 1998 HIGHLIGHTS Strong thunderstorms across most of the Corn Belt continued to delay spring field preparations. A combination of rain, soggy soils, and low soil temperatures kept farmers in the Southwest behind schedule, mostly affecting cotton planting. Fieldwork was also limited by rainy weather in the Atlantic Coast States. Weather conditions were nearly ideal in the Great Plains and Southeast, promoting crop development and planting and tillage operations. Winter wheat: The winter wheat crop was rated mostly good as warm weather and adequate soil moisture continued to provide nearly ideal growing conditions. Warm weather has coaxed most of the crop out of dormancy in the northern Plains and allowed the soft red winter wheat crop to develop up to 2 weeks ahead of normal in parts of the eastern Corn Belt. Insect and disease problems were light in the central Plains States, where most of crop had reached the jointing stage. Nationally, heading development was progressing at a normal pace, with 3 percent of the crop at that stage. The crop is most advanced in California, where 40 percent of the crop has headed, but that was well behind the 5-year average. Arkansas was the only State with heading progress substantially ahead of normal. In Texas, rain was needed after high winds quickly depleted soil moisture. Corn: Nationally, 3 percent of the intended corn crop has been planted, equal to the progress normally made by this date. Dry conditions allowed Southern corn growers to plant at a near-normal pace, but heavy rains kept most Corn Belt farmers out of their fields. Planting delays had not occurred, but field preparations were at a virtual standstill, especially in the western half of the Corn Belt. A few isolated fields were reported to be planted in the eastern Corn Belt. In Texas, planting moved into the High Plains and fields farther south were emerging with good stands. Georgia farmers advanced to 75 percent of intended acreage planted. Cotton: Nationally, 7 percent of the cotton crop has been planted, slightly behind the 5-year average and 2 percent behind last year. Dry weather aided farmers in the major Southern and Southeastern cotton producing states, where planting proceeded on or ahead of schedule in most areas. Cotton planting in the Southwest continued to lag well behind normal due to a combination of rain, wet soils from earlier storms, and continued cool weather. Plants have been slow to emerge due to low temperatures at night. Other crops: Sorghum planting was not a high priority, but still advanced to 15 percent completed, 3 percent ahead of last year's pace, and equal to the 5-year average. So far progress has been limited to the Mississippi Delta States. Rice farmers more than doubled their planting progress to 23 percent of the intended crop seeded, 6 percent ahead of the 5-year average. Four percent of the spring wheat crop has been seeded, compared with 1 percent the previous week and 2 percent normally seeded by this time. South Dakota farmers made excellent progress from the previous week, advancing to 16 percent planted, well ahead of this time last year and the 5-year average. Oats planted progressed to 8 percent, but remained behind normal due to muddy conditions that slowed progress in Iowa and Nebraska. Progress was more than double the normal rate in Ohio. National Weather Summary Volume 85, No. 15 April 5 - 11, 1998 For additional information, call (202) 720-7917. Highlights: Another strong spring storm traversed the Nation, sparking a deadly tornado outbreak across the Southeast and further saturating soils across parts of the western Corn Belt. Areas from Alabama and Georgia to the northern Mid-Atlantic region experienced a second consecutive wet week. Farther west, cool (as much as 8 degrees F below normal), showery weather continued across California for the second week in a row, slowing fieldwork and crop development. Late in the week, warm, windy weather spread into the upper Midwest, helping to evaporate excess moisture and to boost weekly temperatures as much as 7 degrees F above normal. The same late-week conditions spurred winter wheat development on the Plains, but began to deplete topsoil moisture in southern areas (western Oklahoma and northern Texas), where little rain has fallen in the last 3 weeks. Early in the week, a developing low-pressure system emerged from the West, crossing the central Plains. On Sunday, Ely, NV (0.41 inches) noted a daily-record rainfall. A day later, Grand Island, NE notched their first of two consecutive daily-record totals (0.75 inches on April 6 and 1.93 inches on April 7). Storm-total rainfall topped 2 inches in a band from north-central Kansas to western Iowa. As a result of recent heavy rainfall, minor to moderate river flooding developed across much of the middle and upper Mississippi River basin. In advance of the storm's cold front, a daily-record high was set in Galveston, TX (86 degrees F on Wednesday), where March 1 - April 11 rainfall was only 1.75 inches (57 percent of normal). On Tuesday afternoon and evening, the low-pressure system produced a rash of severe weather in the Midwest. In central Illinois, preliminary reports indicated that 28 tornadoes occurred. Twenty-four hours later, numerous tornadoes swept across the Southeast, killing 39 people (33 in Alabama, five in Georgia, and one in Mississippi). During its 21-mile rampage, a single F5 (estimated winds in excess of 260 mph) tornado killed 31 people in Jefferson County, AL. Rainy, windy weather arrived in the East at midweek as the storm center drifted eastward across the Great Lakes States. Jacksonville, FL posted a daily-record rainfall (1.92 inches) on Wednesday, followed a day later by record totals at Harrisburg, PA (1.23 inches) and Virginia's Dulles Airport (1.02 inches). In New York's Central Park, a 2.15-inch rainfall was accompanied by wind gusts to 51 mph. In New England, gusts reached 63 mph in Nantucket, MA and 51 mph on Block Island, RI. Rain changed to snow at storm's end in higher elevations, accumulating 5 inches at New Jersey's High Point. By Saturday morning, temperatures dipped into the lower to middle 30's as far south as Rome, GA (32 degrees F) and Meridian, MS (36 degrees F), while a hard freeze occurred in much of the Northeast. Meanwhile, wind and warmth overspread the Plains and upper Midwest. On Saturday, daily-record highs were set in locations such as Douglas, WY (76 degrees F), Yuma, CO (83 degrees F), and Goodland, KS (85 degrees F). On the southern Plains, winds gusted to 48 mph in Childress, TX and 46 mph in Boise City, OK. With an average high temperature of 66.4 degrees F (12.5 degrees below normal), Phoenix, AZ experienced their coolest March 26 - April 8 daytime readings on record. In California, Fresno reported their lowest high temperature on record (53 degrees F on April 11) for the date. In addition, seasonal rainfall continued to mount across California. Downtown San Francisco observed 42.52 inches from July 1 to April 11, their highest total since 45.85 inches fell in 1889-90. During a 48-hour period on April 10-12, rainfall reached 1.99 inches on southern California's Palomar Mountain. Mild weather continued in Alaska, where readings ranged from near normal across the south to as much as 19 degrees F above normal in the north. With an average temperature of 29.9 degrees F, Fairbanks wrapped up their warmest March 13 - April 11 period on record. Meanwhile in Hawaii, drought continued despite widespread light rain showers. With 0.18 inches during the week, Honolulu's year-to-date total improved to 1.33 inches (15 percent of normal). Corn: Percent Planted, Selected States -------------------------------------- : Week Ending : :-----------------------: 1993- State:Apr 12,:Apr 5, :Apr 12,: 1997 : 1998 : 1998 : 1997 : Avg. -------------------------------------- : Percent : CO : 1 0 2 1 GA : 77 56 87 75 IL : 0 0 2 1 IN : 0 0 1 0 IA : 0 0 0 0 KS : 1 0 4 4 KY : 15 0 9 8 MI : 0 0 0 0 MN : 0 0 0 0 MO : 6 5 12 10 NE : 0 0 0 0 NC : 25 13 29 25 OH : 1 0 2 1 PA : 0 0 0 0 SD : 0 0 0 0 TX : 49 41 49 50 WI : 0 0 0 0 : 17 Sts: 3 2 4 3 -------------------------------------- These 17 States planted 90% of last year's corn acreage. Winter Wheat: Percent Headed, Selected States -------------------------------------- : Week Ending : :-----------------------: 1993- State:Apr 12,:Apr 5, :Apr 12,: 1997 : 1998 : 1998 : 1997 : Avg. -------------------------------------- : Percent : AR : 19 8 24 11 CA : 40 30 62 56 CO : 0 0 0 0 GA : 20 *7 74 39 ID : 0 0 0 0 IL : 0 0 0 0 IN : 0 0 0 0 KS : 0 0 0 0 MI : 0 0 0 0 MO : 0 0 0 0 MT : 0 0 0 0 NE : 0 0 0 0 NC : 8 6 9 7 OH : 0 0 0 0 OK : 3 *0 7 3 OR : 0 0 0 0 SD : 0 0 0 0 TX : 9 7 13 11 WA : 0 0 0 0 : 19 Sts: 3 2 5 3 -------------------------------------- * Revised. These 19 States planted 91% of last year's winter wheat acreage. Cotton: Percent Planted, Selected States -------------------------------------- : Week Ending : :-----------------------: 1993- State:Apr 12,:Apr 5, :Apr 12,: 1997 : 1998 : 1998 : 1997 : Avg. -------------------------------------- : Percent : AL : 5 1 8 6 AZ : 19 15 46 38 AR : 0 0 0 0 CA : 6 5 47 22 GA : 5 *1 4 3 LA : 0 0 1 1 MS : 1 0 1 1 MO : 0 0 0 0 NM : 6 0 13 11 NC : 5 1 2 1 OK : 0 0 0 0 SC : 0 0 4 2 TN : 0 0 0 0 TX : 12 10 7 12 : 14 Sts: 7 5 9 8 -------------------------------------- * Revised. These 14 States planted 98% of last year's cotton acreage. Sorghum: Percent Planted, Selected States -------------------------------------- : Week Ending : :-----------------------: 1993- State:Apr 12,:Apr 5, :Apr 12,: 1997 : 1998 : 1998 : 1997 : Avg. -------------------------------------- : Percent : AR : 12 *3 20 12 CO : 0 0 0 0 IL : 0 0 0 0 KS : 0 0 0 0 LA : 0 0 15 9 MS : 9 0 20 18 MO : 0 0 0 0 NE : 0 0 0 0 NM : 0 0 0 0 OK : 0 0 0 2 SD : 0 0 0 0 TX : 45 39 36 45 : 12 Sts: 15 13 12 15 -------------------------------------- * Revised. These 12 States planted 99% of last year's sorghum acreage. Spring Wheat: Percent Planted, Selected States -------------------------------------- : Week Ending : :-----------------------: 1993- State:Apr 12,:Apr 5, :Apr 12,: 1997 : 1998 : 1998 : 1997 : Avg. -------------------------------------- : Percent : ID : 30 21 38 37 MN : 0 0 0 1 MT : 5 1 1 3 ND : 0 0 0 0 SD : 16 3 1 2 : 5 Sts : 4 1 2 2 -------------------------------------- These 5 States planted 96% of last year's spring wheat acreage. Rice: Percent Planted, Selected States -------------------------------------- : Week Ending : :-----------------------: 1993- State:Apr 12,:Apr 5, :Apr 12,: 1997 : 1998 : 1998 : 1997 : Avg. -------------------------------------- : Percent : AR : 9 *2 8 9 CA : 0 0 0 0 LA : 60 39 51 43 MS : 26 4 24 21 TX : 59 32 5 34 : 5 Sts : 23 11 16 17 -------------------------------------- * Revised. These 5 States planted 96% of last year's rice acreage. Oats: Percent Planted, Selected States -------------------------------------- : Week Ending : :-----------------------: 1993- State:Apr 12,:Apr 5, :Apr 12,: 1997 : 1998 : 1998 : 1997 : Avg. -------------------------------------- : Percent : IA : 5 1 36 35 MI : 3 1 15 3 MN : 1 0 0 2 NE : 20 14 38 36 ND : 0 0 0 0 OH : 47 19 42 21 PA : 30 20 32 15 SD : 12 2 1 2 WI : 4 1 1 5 : 9 Sts : 8 3 11 9 -------------------------------------- These 9 States planted 57% of last year's oat acreage. Winter Wheat: Crop Condition by Percent, Selected States -------------------------------------- State : VP : P : F : G : EX -------------------------------------- : Percent : AR : 0 7 36 48 9 CA : 0 0 50 20 30 CO : 2 4 16 46 32 GA : 1 7 28 54 10 ID : 0 1 7 57 35 IL : 1 3 18 63 15 IN : 0 1 11 59 29 KS : 0 2 15 62 21 MI : 1 4 25 55 15 MO : 0 7 33 46 14 MT : 1 7 31 50 11 NE : 1 5 23 59 12 NC : 1 15 38 44 2 OH : 0 2 13 53 32 OK : 0 0 16 78 6 OR : 0 0 10 70 20 SD : 0 3 10 63 24 TX : 1 7 25 49 18 WA : 0 0 8 66 26 : 19 Sts : 0 3 19 60 18 : Prev Wk : 0 4 19 58 19 Prev Yr : 1 8 28 53 10 --------------------------------------