Released December 1, 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 at (202) 720-7621, office hours 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. National Weather Summary Volume 85, No. 48 November 22 - 28, 1998 For additional information, call (202) 720-7917. Highlights: Wet, windy weather continued in the Northwest, but exceptionally mild, mostly dry weather prevailed elsewhere across the Nation. Heavy precipitation caused additional minor flooding west of the Cascades through midweek, but rainfall shifted southward thereafter, disrupting already-late cotton harvesting in California's San Joaquin Valley. Farther east, weekly temperatures ranged from 10 to 20 degrees F above normal throughout the Plains and western Corn Belt, promoting final summer crop harvesting and spurring winter wheat development. On the southern Plains, however, topsoils turned unfavorably dry following nearly a month without significant rainfall. Meanwhile, drought persisted in the Mid-Atlantic region and parts of the Southeast, tempered only by midweek showers. During the week, more than 130 daily-record highs were set or tied nationwide. On Sunday, a surge of warmth onto the High Plains pushed highs in Kansas to 87 degrees F in Elkhart and 85 degrees F in Liberal. A day later, warmth quickly expanded into the East, where Blacksburg, VA registered a daily- record high (69 degrees F) following a low of 21 degrees F. After a brief midweek cool-down, record warmth returned to the Plains, Midwest, and East. Thursday marked the first of four consecutive daily-record highs in Waterloo, IA (67, 67, 62, and 69 degrees F). LaCrosse, WI netted their first of four records (63, 62, 65, and 63 degrees F) on Friday. In Chicago, IL, highs exceeded 60 degrees F on five consecutive days (November 26-30) in late November for the first time on record. Two powerful storms struck the Pacific Northwest, the first on Monday and the other on Wednesday. In Oregon, Monday's storm lashed Cape Blanco with wind gusts of 86 mph. Away from the ocean, gusts reached 68 mph in Salem, OR and 72 mph in Bellingham, WA. The latter storm battered Cape Blanco with gusts as high as 98 mph. A peak gust to 111 mph was reported in Cannon Beach, OR. Astoria, OR noted their heaviest 24-hour rainfall on Wednesday (5.56 inches), breaking a record that had stood since January 8- 9, 1990. November rainfall records were broken by week's end in Seattle, WA (10.97 inches, eclipsing their 1990 standard) and Astoria (18.70 inches, eclipsing their 1995 mark). A late-week pattern change gave the Pacific Northwest a much-needed break from heavy precipitation and delivered rain and mountain snows to California and the Southwest. In southern California, storm-total (November 27-29) rainfall included 1.91 inches in Julian and 1.60 inches on Mt. Laguna. Mt. Lemmon, near Tucson, AZ, netted 2.60 inches of precipitation during the same period. By Sunday morning, Bellemont, AZ reported a snow depth of 3 inches. Farther east, dry weather returned to the Northeast toward week's end following a brief period of precipitation. Rainfall (and melted snow) totals topped 1 inch in parts of New England and eastern New York, but were much lower across the Mid-Atlantic States' drought region. Sharply colder air overspread western Alaska during the week. Departures ranged from -12 degrees F in western areas to +10 degrees F in far northern and eastern locations. On Monday, Cold Bay tallied a daily record-tying low of 13 degrees F. Lows in interior western Alaska dipped as low as -30 degrees F (on Friday) in McGrath. We 1 (12-98) National Agricultural Summary November 23 - 29, 1998 Highlights: Well-above-normal temperatures in the Great Plains, Corn Belt, Great Lakes region, and lower Mississippi Valley aided winter wheat development. Temperatures also averaged above normal in the Southeast, Rocky Mountains, and along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. Dry conditions continued to assist late- season harvest efforts and fall tillage operations. However, many fields remained too muddy to resume harvest activities in parts of the northern Plains and upper Mississippi Valley following earlier storms. Flooding and soil erosion continued in areas of the Pacific Northwest due to an unrelenting series of Pacific storms. Precipitation was lighter in the California valleys, allowing harvest activities to proceed with little delay. Winter Wheat: Emergence advanced to 94 percent, equal to the 5-year average. Germination and emergence of most late-planted fields in the Corn Belt, northern Plains, and Pacific Northwest was aided by substantially above-normal temperatures. Warm weather also promoted rapid germination in the Southeast and Southwest. Above-normal temperatures promoted root development and vegetative growth in most winter wheat-producing States. Conditions improved the most in the southern Plains, Southeast, northern Rocky Mountains, and parts of the Corn Belt. Cotton: The Nation's cotton harvest progressed to 90 percent complete, up from 86 percent the previous week and ahead of the 87 percent normally harvested by this date. Dry weather aided the harvest effort in California, but progress remained far behind the normal pace. Favorable weather also aided harvest progress in New Mexico, but growers in Arizona were hindered by scattered showers. Progress remained several days behind normal in both States. In the southern Great Plains and Southeast, the harvest pace was slower, but dry weather favored harvest efforts of the growers who still had cotton to pick. Sorghum: Harvest advanced to 97 percent complete, slightly behind the 98 per- cent average. Dry weather aided harvest efforts in the central and southern High Plains. Harvest remained ahead of the normal pace in Colorado and moved ahead of the average in New Mexico, where farmers combined one-fourth of their crop. Progress continued to lag behind the average in Texas. Earlier rains and melting snow kept fields too muddy to resume harvest in parts of South Dakota. Winter Wheat: Percent Emerged, Selected States 1/ -------------------------------------- : Week Ending : :-----------------------: 1993- State:Nov 29,:Nov 22,:Nov 29,: 1997 : 1998 : 1998 : 1997 : Avg. -------------------------------------- : Percent : AR : 89 83 77 83 CA : 30 20 33 30 CO : 99 99 100 100 GA : 37 18 25 36 ID : 97 96 95 95 IL : 100 98 100 98 IN : 99 96 99 99 KS : 98 97 98 98 MI : 100 100 100 99 MO : 95 86 99 90 MT : 95 95 94 93 NE : 100 100 100 100 NC : 70 65 75 68 OH : 100 100 99 99 OK : 91 89 93 95 OR : 100 95 89 93 SD : 100 100 100 99 TX : 89 85 92 90 WA : 100 100 100 97 : 19 Sts: 94 92 94 94 -------------------------------------- 1/ These 19 States planted 91% of last year's winter wheat acreage. Cotton: Percent Harvested, Selected States 1/ -------------------------------------- : Week Ending : :-----------------------: 1993- State:Nov 29,:Nov 22,:Nov 29,: 1997 : 1998 : 1998 : 1997 : Avg. -------------------------------------- : Percent : AL : 99 97 89 93 AZ : 83 81 91 90 AR : 100 100 97 98 CA : 70 60 98 96 GA : 85 82 73 84 LA : 100 100 100 100 MS : 100 100 99 99 MO : 99 96 97 97 NM : 74 61 89 84 NC : 98 95 79 87 OK : 87 84 86 75 SC : 97 91 84 87 TN : 99 99 95 97 TX : 87 83 83 79 : 14 Sts: 90 86 87 87 -------------------------------------- 1/ These 14 States harvested 98% of last year's cotton acreage. Sorghum: Percent Harvested, Selected States 1/ -------------------------------------- : Week Ending : :-----------------------: 1993- State:Nov 29,:Nov 22,:Nov 29,: 1997 : 1998 : 1998 : 1997 : Avg. -------------------------------------- : Percent : AR : 100 100 100 100 CO : 93 80 63 88 IL : 100 98 100 99 KS : 99 96 97 98 LA : 100 100 100 100 MS : 100 100 100 100 MO : 99 95 99 97 NE : 99 98 99 99 NM : 97 72 100 91 OK : 96 91 85 88 SD : 90 89 98 99 TX : 94 92 98 99 : 12 Sts: 97 94 97 98 -------------------------------------- 1/ These 12 States harvested 99% of last year's sorghum acreage. Winter Wheat: Crop Condition by Percent, Selected States -------------------------------------- State : VP : P : F : G : EX -------------------------------------- : Percent : AR : 0 1 30 50 19 CA : 0 0 10 50 40 CO : 0 1 11 54 34 GA : 1 15 43 40 1 ID : 0 0 4 84 12 IL : 0 5 18 58 19 IN : 0 3 19 62 16 KS : 1 4 22 56 17 MI : 1 4 33 52 10 MO : 0 4 34 59 3 MT : 0 1 33 65 1 NE : 0 1 19 60 20 NC : 1 3 23 58 15 OH : 0 3 21 56 20 OK : 0 1 14 76 9 OR : 0 3 23 74 0 SD : 0 0 14 60 26 TX : 1 10 43 38 8 WA : 0 13 47 40 0 : 19 Sts : 0 4 24 58 14 : Prev Wk : 0 5 25 59 11 Prev Yr : 0 3 24 65 8 -------------------------------------- VP-Very Poor, P-Poor, F-Fair, G-Good, EX-Excellent. National crop conditions for selected States are weighted based on 1997 planted acres. The next "Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin" report will be released 12 p.m. ET on December 8, 1998. 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