We 1 (3-00) Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin National Agricultural Statistics Service USDA Washington, D.C. Released March 14, 2000, 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 87, No. 11 March 5 - 11, 2000 For additional information, call (202) 720-7917. Highlights: A weather pattern change ended northern and central California's 9-week wet spell, halted a 3-week regime of record-setting warmth east of the Rockies, and brought much-needed precipitation to parts of the South, including Arizona and the lower Mississippi Valley. From the central and southern Plains to the Middle and Southern Atlantic Coast, the cooler conditions slowed winter development that had accelerated during the recent warm spell. A late-week storm blanketed areas from the central Plains into the Northeast with snow, and provided drought relief (more than 1 inch of rain) from northeastern Texas to the southern Appalachians. However, irrigation requirements continued to increase across most of southern Georgia and Peninsular Florida, despite scattered late-week showers. Farther west, showers lingered across California early in the week, while much-needed precipitation eased the Southwest's 5-month dry spell. At midweek, a powerful storm system tracked from the Four Corners region to the northern Plains and western Great Lakes region, delivering heavy precipitation and high winds. Blizzard or near-blizzard conditions briefly engulfed areas from western South Dakota to northern Minnesota, while locally severe thunderstorms swept across the Plains, Midwest, and South. However, significant rainfall again bypassed drought-stressed winter wheat on the southern High Plains. Southern Texas also remained extremely dry, placing stress on emerging summer crops. Despite the sharply colder air that trailed the storm system, weekly temperatures averaged 7 to 19 degrees F above normal in the Midwest, and were well above normal elsewhere east of the Rockies. Likewise, temperatures averaged as much as 8 degrees F below normal in southern California, despite a gradual late-week warming trend. Well over 250 daily-record highs and several March-record highs were set or tied during the week, mostly from March 5-9. Marquette, MI set six consecutive daily-record highs from March 3-8, and posted a March-record high of 71 degrees F on Wednesday. Marquette's previous earliest observance of a high at or above 70 degrees F had been on April 5, 1991. March 8 featured a fifth consecutive day of daily-record warmth in Rochester, MN and LaCrosse, WI. The warmth peaked at both locations on March 7, with highs of 75 degrees F in Rochester and 82 degrees F in LaCrosse. Rochester had previously never observed a high at or above 75 degrees F before March 22, while LaCrosse had never witnessed a high above 80 degrees F before March 23. Elsewhere on March 8, Flint, MI (80 degrees F) tallied a March-record high and earliest incidence of 80-degree warmth (previously first observed on April 2, 1963). Minneapolis, MN experienced their shortest stretch on record--113 days--between the last day of 70-degree warmth in the autumn (November 13) and the first in the spring (March 6). Minneapolis' previous record, 131 days, was set in 1893-94, and their normal period without 70-degree warmth is 175 days. Record warmth was not confined to the Great Lakes region, as Del Rio, TX (91 degrees F on Tuesday) registered a daily record. Record-setting temperatures reached the East Coast by midweek, where Washington, DC (85 degrees F on March 8) had their earliest high at or above 85 degrees F (previously 89 degrees F on March 12, 1990). In contrast, several daily-record lows were noted in California. Simi Valley, CA logged record lows of 37 degrees F on Monday and Wednesday. Meanwhile, showery weather lingered across northern and central California. Fresno, CA registered a daily-record rainfall of 1.04 inches on March 5. Three days later, Fresno's year-to-date rainfall reached 10.61 inches, exceeding their normal annual precipitation of 10.60 inches. The only time Fresno's annual normal was eclipsed on an earlier date was in 1969, when their January 1 - February 19 total reached 10.66 inches. While showers lingered along the West Coast, the most significant precipitation of the season overspread the Southwest. In southern California, daily-record rainfalls on March 5 included 2.62 inches in Pasadena and 1.60 inches in Torrance. By the morning of March 6, southern California snow depths reached 16 inches at Big Bear Lake, 11 inches in Idyllwild, and 9 inches on Mt. Laguna. Farther east, Phoenix, AZ received 1.53 inches of rain on March 6, their second-wettest March day on record behind 1.98 inches on March 3, 1983. Phoenix's storm-total (March 4-7) rainfall reached 2.77 inches. Elsewhere in Arizona, the storm boosted Flagstaff's March 1-11 snowfall to 37.1 inches, and left Mt. Lemmon, near Tucson, with a 36-inch snow depth on March 7. As the storm system tracked northeastward, high winds and locally heavy precipitation overspread portions of the Plains. On March 7, the Storm Prediction Center indicated that there were five tornadoes in Oklahoma, and more than 170 reports of large hail or strong winds from Texas northward into southern South Dakota. Meanwhile, 4.0 inches of snow fell on March 8 in Rapid City, SD, driven by northwesterly wind gusts that reached 62 mph. Farther south, a wind gust to 96 mph was clocked in Boulder, CO. Late in the week, another storm emerged from the West, producing beneficial rainfall across the South and a stripe of snow from the central Plains into the Northeast. Birmingham, AL received 4.69 inches of rain on March 10 and a 2-day total of 5.21 inches. In Georgia, the storm boosted Macon's month-to-date rainfall to 1.84 inches, following a record-dry February (0.37 inch). Meanwhile, storm-total snowfall included 3.2 inches in Wichita, KS, 7.4 inches in Columbia, MO, 8.1 inches in Indianapolis, IN, and 8.8 inches in Ft. Wayne, IN. Farther east, heavy snow developed across northern New England at week's end, while 2 to locally more than 4 inches of rain soaked southern New England. Mostly dry weather persisted in Hawaii for the seventh consecutive week, resulting in further drought intensification across primarily leeward portions of the central and eastern islands. Meanwhile in Alaska, mild weather continued for the fifth consecutive week in western areas and the eighth week in a row across the interior. Weekly temperatures averaged as much as 20 degrees F above normal in western Alaska. National Agricultural Summary March 6 - 12, 2000 Highlights: Winter wheat conditions improved in the central Great Plains, where warm weather and adequate moisture supplies stimulated development. Light, but widespread, showers maintained moisture levels and aided wheat development in Oklahoma. A midweek storm produced some isolated small hail in Colorado and gusty winds in Kansas, but damage to winter wheat was minimal. Rain eased moisture shortages and boosted wheat conditions in eastern Texas, but continued dryness stressed wheat fields in northern Texas. Along the western Gulf Coast, scattered light showers provided little moisture for emerged and germinating corn, cotton, sorghum, and soybean fields. Fieldwork and planting of spring row crops were limited by dry soils, and rice seeding was delayed due to lack of flood water. Planting and field preparations were delayed by rain in parts of the lower Mississippi Valley and Southeast, although areas near the Gulf Coast and most of the Atlantic Coastal Plains remained too dry. In the Corn Belt, dry weather and above-normal temperatures encouraged isolated early field tillage, and farmers began applying fertilizer and herbicides. Rain relieved drought conditions in southern California and the interior Southwest, but fieldwork was delayed in northern California, where soils were saturated due to excessive rainfall. In Florida, new growth was abundant in well-cared-for citrus groves, and trees were in various stages of bloom, from pin head buds to open flowers. The next "Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin" report will be released at 12:00 p.m. ET on March 21, 2000. 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