We 1 (1-04) Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin National Agricultural Statistics Service USDA Washington, D.C. Released January 6, 2004, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture. For information on "Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin" call Brian T. Young at (202) 720-7621, office hours 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET. National Weather Summary Volume 91, No. 1 December 28, 2003 - January 3, 2004 For additional information, call (202) 720-2397. Highlights: Storminess intensified across the West, accompanied by several surges of cold air. As a result, snow fell at very low elevations in the Pacific Northwest, causing holiday travel disruptions. Farther inland, heavy snow blanketed Northwestern winter grains, providing the crop with insulation from increasingly cold weather. Meanwhile, heavy, high-elevation snowfall improved spring runoff prospects throughout California, the Northwest, and the Intermountain West as far south as Utah and western Colorado. Farther east, wheat across the northern half of the Plains benefited from the passage of two winter storms. The first, early in the week, dumped heavy snow in parts of Montana, where weekly temperatures averaged as much as 16 degrees F below normal. Later in the week, a second storm system produced a stripe of snow east-northeastward from western Nebraska and northeastern Colorado. By week's end, however, some wheat in South Dakota remained vulnerable to bitterly cold weather due to a patchy, shallow snow cover. Sharply colder air arrived across the southern half of the Plains early in the new year, replacing a 2-week warm spell. On the southern Plains, cold weather reduced winter wheat's moisture requirements, although the crop remained in need of precipitation. Mostly dry weather also persisted across the upper Midwest, where a late-week cold outbreak increased livestock stress. Meanwhile, heavy rain developed in the Ohio Valley late in the week, causing some flooding in lowlands planted to winter wheat. Prior to the rain's arrival, record warmth boosted weekly temperatures 14 to 20 degrees F above normal across the southern and eastern Corn Belt. Unusually warm weather also prevailed for much of the week across the South and East, where temperatures generally ranged from 4 to 16 degrees F above normal. Locally heavy showers in the Delta and adjacent areas aided winter wheat and cool-season pastures. Early in the week, the coldest air in several years settled across parts of the Southwest. On December 28, daily-record lows included 13 degrees F in Sedona, AZ, and 24 degrees F in Thermal, CA. The chilly conditions necessitated protective measures for some winter agricultural interests from southern California to the lower Colorado Valley. Phoenix, AZ, reported low temperatures of 32 degrees F on December 28 and 29, marking its first freeze since January 3, 2000, and first consecutive readings at or below the freezing mark since February 15-16, 1990. Elsewhere in Arizona, Tucson (20 degrees F on December 28 and 19 degrees F on December 29) registered its lowest reading since December 24, 1974, and experienced consecutive days with temperatures of 20 degrees F or lower for the first time since January 7-8, 1971. In western Texas, El Paso (13 degrees F on December 29) had its coldest day since January 8, 1997, when the low was 10 degrees F. Widespread storminess trailed the cold air across the West. San Francisco Airport, CA, collected daily-record rainfall totals on December 29 (2.60 inches) and January 1 (2.16 inches). In Oregon, Pendleton's 9.5-inch snowfall on December 28-29 represented its third-highest 24-hour total on record, behind 16.1 inches in February 1994 and 11.1 inches in January 1950. Elsewhere in Oregon, storm-total snowfall reached 15 inches in Condon and 18 inches in Meacham, while Timberline (in the Cascades) recorded about 4 feet of snow to boost its depth above 150 inches. By the morning of December 30, snow was reported as far south as the Las Vegas Valley, where McCarran Airport received 1.3 inches. It was Las Vegas' heaviest snowfall since February 19, 1990, when 1.4 inches fell. Farther inland, snowfall in Utah during the final 7 days of 2003 reached 103 inches in Farmington Canyon (Davis County) and 87 inches in Alta (Salt Lake County). Salt Lake City, UT, measured 21.9 inches of snow during the last 7 days of the year, capping its fifth-snowiest (31.2 inches), second-wettest (3.97 inches) December on record. Heavy precipitation even reached the northern Plains, where Glasgow, MT, noted its snowiest December on record (18.8 inches; previously, 16.5 inches in 1929). Most of Glasgow's snow was observed from December 26-28, when 14.4 inches fell. High winds accompanied the precipitation throughout the West, including California, where December 30 gusts included 53 m.p.h. in Sacramento and 56 m.p.h. in Marysville. Two days later, New Year's Day featured a peak gust to 114 m.p.h. on Utah's Little Cottonwood Ridgeline. In contrast, the upper Midwest remained dry. Green Bay, WI, received only 2.9 inches of snow during the second half of the year, its seventh-lowest total on record through December 31. Farther south, heavy rain began to develop toward week's end along a front draped across the Ohio Valley. On January 2, London, KY, collected a daily-record total of 2.73 inches. Meanwhile, 2004 began on a mild note across the Midwest, South, and East, featuring more than six dozen daily-record highs. The winter thaw belied that fact that Mt. Mansfield, VT, set December records for precipitation (13.52 inches) and snowfall (91.0 inches), while nearby Burlington's monthly snowfall of 53.6 inches was second only to a 56.7-inch total in December 1970. However, consecutive daily-record highs were set on January 2-3 in locations such as Tulsa, OK (76 and 75 degrees F), and Grand Rapids, MI (58 and 59 degrees F). In addition, records for the highest monthly minimum temperature were established on January 3 in locations such as McAlester, OK (65 degrees F), and Fayetteville, AR (63 degrees F). In sharp contrast, highs in Montana on January 3 included -10 degrees F in Cut Bank (its lowest maximum temperature since January 11, 1998) and -6 degrees F in Great Falls (lowest maximum since December 20, 1998). Mild, mostly dry weather prevailed in Alaska. Weekly temperatures averaged at least 10 to 20 degrees F above normal across western parts of the State, although colder air overspread southeastern Alaska (as much as 4 degrees F below normal). Precipitation was mostly confined to western Alaska, where early-week precipitation boosted December snowfall to 22.2 inches in Nome and 23.8 inches in Cold Bay. Farther south, heavy rainfall pounded parts of Hawaii, especially across Honolulu and Maui Counties from January 1-3. On Maui, Kahului recorded 6.49 inches of rain during the first 3 days of 2004. On Oahu, Honolulu netted 1.73 inches in a 24-hour period on December 30-31, then received 5.30 inches during the first 3 days of January. Elsewhere, Oahu's Wilson Tunnel recorded weekly rainfall totaling 13.54 inches, including 9.09 inches in a 48-hour period from January 1-3. During the same 48 hours, totals included 11.71 inches in Mahinahina, Maui, 13.34 inches in Lanai City, Lanai, and 16.34 inches at a station in Molokai's interior, east-southeast of the airport. Occasionally heavy showers were also observed on the other islands, including Kauai and the Big Island. National Agricultural Summary December 29, 2003 - January 4, 2004 Highlights: Temperatures were well above normal across the eastern half of the Nation, with average temperatures up to 15 degrees Fahrenheit above normal across the southern Corn Belt and 9 degrees or more above normal in the Northeast and Ohio Valley, most of the Delta, and portions of the Great Plains. However, temperatures were below normal in the Pacific Northwest, Southwest, and northern Rocky Mountains. Heavy precipitation fell on the Pacific Coast, while moderate to heavy rain fell in the southern Corn Belt and Ohio Valley. The Mississippi Delta and adjacent areas of the Southeast had moderate rainfall. Conditions were mostly dry on the Atlantic Coast and across the Great Plains. Heavy snowfall in the northern and central Rocky Mountains replenished snow cover in the region, which had experienced some recent melt. In California, the rains benefited most crops but hindered fieldwork. The Arizona cotton crop was reported at 100 percent harvested, while harvest of vegetable and citrus crops was active. In Hawaii, bananas and papayas were in fair to good condition, while rains hindered harvest of vegetables. The next "Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin" report will be released after 12 p.m. ET on January 13, 2004. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) 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