Release March 9, 1999 by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of Agricultural. For information on "Weekly Weather & 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 86, No. 10 February 28 - March 6, 1999 For additional information, call (202) 720-7917. Highlights: Following 4 months of unusually wet weather, favorably drier conditions overspread the Pacific Northwest after midweek, allowing lowland flooding to subside west of the Cascades. Soil moisture remains favorable, however, in soft white winter wheat areas of the interior Northwest. Farther south, early-week rain and a 6th consecutive week of cool weather restricted fieldwork in northern California. Meanwhile, warm weather prevailed on the Plains for an 8th consecutive week, promoting hard red winter wheat growth as far north as southern and western Nebraska, but reducing topsoil moisture. On the southern Plains, significant precipitation last fell in late January. More serious dryness continued to develop across southern Texas, where corn, cotton, and sorghum planting is well underway. Farther east, scattered showers and thunderstorms improved pre-planting moisture from the Delta to the middle and southern Atlantic Coast. Widespread frost and near- to slightly below-freezing temperatures occurred in the Southeast on March 4-5, slowing winter grain and fruit tree development, but causing minimal damage. Heavy snow blanketed the Great Lakes and Northeastern States after midweek, increasing livestock stress and slowing spring fieldwork preparations. Weekly temperatures averaged as much as 4 degrees F below normal in Florida and northern California, but ranged generally from 3 to 7 degrees F above normal on the Plains. Departures reached +9 degrees F from the Southwest to southern Texas. Nearly two dozen daily-record highs were established during the week from the Southwest to Texas. On Sunday, Delta, UT recorded 74 degrees F. A day later Del Rio, TX, registered 93 degrees F. Heat peaked across southern Texas on Tuesday, when highs soared to 99 degrees F in McAllen and 98 degrees F in Corpus Christi. Meanwhile, cooler air briefly settled across the central Plains. By Wednesday morning, lows ranged from 10 to 20 degrees F as far south as western Kansas. The cool air reached the Southeast on March 4-5, producing lows of 28 degrees F in Meridian, MS (on the 4th) and 29 degrees F in Tallahassee, FL (on the 5th). Farther west, the last in a series of energetic storm systems reached the Northwest. High winds and very heavy surf accompanied rain along the coast. Late on March 2, 46-foot seas were reported at the Stonewall Bank Buoy, moored about 15 miles west of Newport, OR. During the morning of March 3, peak wind gusts in coastal areas reached 79 mph on northwestern Washington's Tatoosh Island (Cape Flattery) and 92 mph in Tillamook, OR. In and near Washington's Puget Sound, gusts peaked at 60 mph in Seattle and 50 mph in Tacoma. In the Washington Cascades, ridgetop winds (elevation 6,000 feet) near White Pass were clocked to 129 mph. Weekly precipitation topped 1 inch in most areas from Mississippi and Alabama into the Northeast, the result of three fast-moving storm systems. Totals ranged from 2 to 4 inches from the central Appalachians to New England, including significant mid- to late-week snowfall. On March 4, high winds accompanied heavy rain in eastern New England, gusting to 69 mph in Milton (Blue Hill Observatory), MA and 52 mph in Windsor Locks, CT. Farther inland, separate storms buried Rochester, NY with 24.3 inches (driven by 45 mph wind gusts) on March 3-4 and 18.4 We 1 (3-99) inches (39 mph gusts) on March 6. The 24.3-inch total was Rochester's second-greatest 24-hour accumulation, behind a 29.8-inch total on March 1, 1900. Rochester's snow depth rose to 36 inches by week's end, breaking their record of 34 inches, set on February 1, 1966. Prior to reaching the Northeast, the earlier storm also dumped more than 1 foot of snow across the highest elevations of the southern Appalachians. The latter system dropped 12.0 inches of snow in Rapid City, SD on March 5, their fourth-greatest 24-hour snowfall in March. Farther east, storm-total snowfall reached 20 inches in Bethel, VT and 18 inches in Malone, NY. In Pennsylvania, snowfall from the two storms totaled 32.0 inches on Mt. Davis (elevation 3,213 feet). Elsewhere in the eastern Great Lakes region, March 1-6 snowfall totaled 13.2 inches in Flint, MI and 10.3 inches in Youngstown, OH. National Agricultural Summary March 1 - 7, 1999 Highlights: Windy conditions continued to deplete soil moisture reserves in the Great Plains, as most areas received no precipitation. Development of small grains in the central and southern Plains was limited by dry conditions, but most fields maintained good color due to warm weather. Field preparations continued throughout the Plains; corn, sorghum, and cotton planting remained active in southern and eastern Texas; and a few rice and soybean fields were planted in the Upper Coast. Some earlier planted corn and cotton fields emerged despite the shortage of soil moisture. The Pacific Northwest remained in a stormy pattern, but rainfall was lighter in most coastal areas. In California, seedbed preparations were active as dry conditions prevailed in all but a few northern areas. Cotton planting progressed in the Imperial Valley. Small grains, forage crops, and sugarbeets were growing well, but dryland wheat fields in the southern San Joaquin Valley need rain. Temperatures averaged below normal in most of the Southeast, where temperatures fell below freezing as far south as northern Florida. Frost damage was limited due to the short duration of sub-freezing temperatures. The Atlantic Coastal Plains and areas along the Gulf Coast remained dry, while heavy rainfall kept soils saturated in the Appalachians. The Ohio and Tennessee River Valleys received a mixture of rain, freezing rain, and snow. In the eastern Corn Belt and Northeast, most precipitation came in the form of snow. The central and western Corn Belt, Great Lakes States, and most of the lower Mississippi Valley were mostly dry. The next "Weekly Weather & Crop Bulletin" report will be released after 12 p.m. ET on March 16, 1999. 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